Google to Launch Smart Speaker With Display This Year: Report

Google is now reported to be working on a new Assistant-powered smart speaker with a display, and is looking to launch it before the holidays this year. Since the smart speaker will sport a display, Google is effectively looking to give the Amazon Echo Show some competition. The smart speaker segment is seen to have a lot of potential, and Google's investment in it, shows that the tech giant is serious regarding its Home range of smart speakers. Currently, Google sells the Home, Home Mini, and Home Max in its smart speaker range, and with the smart display-based speaker added to the range, the tech giant looks to be equipped with a full range to compete well with the Amazon Echo family of devices.

Nikkei Asian Review reports that Google is working on a smart speaker that comes with a screen, and plans to ship at least 3 million units in its first batch. The report states that the new speaker will likely be similar to the Amazon Echo Show, however it will be powered by Google Assistant. "Google targets to ship some 3 million units for the first batch of the new model of smart speaker that comes with a screen. It's an aggressive plan," an industry source told the publication.

The report says that the new speaker will integrate Google's new Smart Display, a product that has been introduced to many partners like LG, Sony, JBL, and Lenovo. However, Google is yet to launch its own smart speaker with a screen, but it looks to change that this year. Currently, as mentioned, Google sells the Home, Home Mini, and the Home Max, which gives competition to Amazon's Echo, Echo Dot, and Apple's HomePod respectively. Now, the new speaker looks to give competition to Echo Show.

The new speaker will work on voice commands, but touch-based functions will also be presumably included. A recent Canalys report suggests that the total number of shipments reached 9 million in the first quarter of 2018. The year on year growth has been at 210 percent, with last year shipments recorded only at 2.9 million globally. Google, in particular, made giant leaps in this segment with a 483 percent growth year on year, shipping 3.2 million of its Google Home and Home Mini devices in the first quarter. Compared to last year Q1 results, where it held only 19.3 percent of the market share, this quarter that share rose to 36.2 percent. Furthermore, Canalys also predicts that the overall smart speaker market will hit the 100 million mark by the end of 2018, indicating the growth potential of this segment.