The device similar to Amazon Echo, Google Home, wouldn’t ship until later this year.
Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home smart speakers may soon need to make way for a new challenger: Apple.
According to Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the matter, ” Apple is working on a smart speaker supporting digital voice assistant Siri. The company could unveil the speaker as soon as next week, when they kick off the annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
The big differences between Apple’s speaker and its competitors: virtual surround sound and deeper integration with Apple services, says the report.
Apple declined to comment on the report.
Amazon Echo has raced to the front of the smart speaker market with multiple devices such as the smaller Echo Dot and the recently-unveiled Echo Show, which sports a touchscreen. Research firm eMarketer says Amazon boasts a 70% share of the market, followed by Google Home at 24%.
Meanwhile, consumers’ use of digital voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant is surging. According to eMarketer, the number of Americans using voice-enabled speakers like Echo at least once a month more than doubled from last year. Also, more than a quarter of smartphone owners will use a voice assistant at least once a month.
