Competition in the smart speaker sector that makes our lives easier is increasingly fierce. After learning of Samsung 's intentions to create its own device, now it is Alibaba that has taken the plunge into this new and profitable trend.
The Chinese e-commerce giant is thus challenging Amazon and Google, which have so far been the real kings. Alibaba's new device has been called Tmall Genie and, instead of Alexa , it has an artificial intelligence system known as AliGenie .
The device will go on sale at a price of 499 yuan (about 73 dollars) for the first 1,000 people who buy it during the month-long trial. A price that is below the 349 dollars of the Apple device and less than the 180 dollars of the Amazon Echo .
In addition, the Chinese company's biggest competitor, Tencent Holdings, is belarus phone number developing its own speaker that could hit the market in a matter of months.
Alibaba's device offers a range of voice-controlled services such as calendar, music and news. The AliGenie system could simplify shopping for the Chinese giant's more than 450 million active buyers.
This is a booming market. Purchases of this type of device have increased by almost 600% to reach 4.2 million during the fourth quarter of last year. A market in which Amazon has a share of around 88%, with Google accounting for 10%.
Spending on hardware, services and installation fees for these smart-home devices is projected to reach $155 billion by 2022, up from $90 billion this year.