Amazon’s voice strategy

Amazon have always talked about “Alexa everywhere”, but until recently they have concentrated on developing smart speakers that live in the home (Amazon Echo, Echo Show etc). Amazon dominates the smart-speaker category with more than 25% market share and we know that smart speaker usage is growing in homes — but many consumers are using voice on the go.

Amazon have made a play with automotive solutions, exploring the role of voice in the car — but their biggest struggle was that Alexa wasn’t in smartphones the same way Siri, Google Assistant Bixby and Cortana were. You can access Alexa today through a mobile app, but that is not an “always listening” hands-free experience and requires manual navigation to the app.

But Amazon’s new strategy changes this. They just released three new Echo wearables: new smart glasses, smart ring and wireless earbuds. Amazon are pushing Alexa outside of the home, and inserting it into the rest of your life. These new technologies act as a shortcut, meaning you don’t have to stop or interrupt what you’re doing to speak to Alexa (which is the entire utility of hands-free voice assistants in and out of the home).