Apple Working On Smart-Home Ecosystem Efforts To Gain Market Share: Bloomberg

Apple Inc AAPL is working to combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and a video conferencing camera through a connected TV and other smart-home functions, Bloomberg reports.
Other features would include standard Apple TV box functions, including video watching, gaming, and smart speakers like playing music and using Apple’s Siri digital assistant.
Bloomberg notes, Apple is also looking to introduce a high-end speaker with a touch screen to compete with Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google, and Amazon.Com Inc AMZN. The device would combine an iPad with a HomePod speaker and a video chat camera. Apple had considered a robotic arm connection between the iPad and the speaker to follow the user, similar to Amazon’s Echo Show gadget.
The new offerings have the potential to revive Apple’s smart-home category prospects. Apple held 2% of the TV streaming device market in 2020, while its HomePod held less than 10% of the smart speaker market for most of its life.
Apple had discontinued its high-end HomePod in March. The Apple TV box has not been updated for over three years. Apple had rolled out the low price HomePod mini last year, which has fared better than its predecessor.
Apple combined its HomePod and Apple TV engineering groups in 2020 and unified the underlying software that ran on both the devices, probably insinuating towards hardware integration.
Google and Amazon are yet to explore the combined speaker and TV box product category. Facebook Inc FB sold a Portal video chat device employing a TV as its display. Amazon sold the Fire TV Cube box with a small speaker. However, Amazon leads the smart speakers with a screens category called Smart Displays.
Amazon first promoted the Smart Display category in 2017 with the rollout of the original Echo Show. Google offered the 7- and 10-inch versions of its Nest Hub, which paired the Google Assistant with a speaker and screen. Amazon was working on a new speaker with a screen for a user’s wall to serve as a smart home hub. Apple was exploring new smart speakers with displays and cameras based on a March Bloomberg report.
Apple’s HomeKit software enabling third-party device control by iPhones, iPads, and HomePods through an app or Siri supported fewer products apart from Amazon and Google. Apple’s newer devices are expected to support more products from peers leading to higher investment in the bigger Apple smart-home ecosystem.
Price action: AAPL shares traded lower by 0.76% at $131.98 on the last check Monday.

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