After two years of Amazon’s “Echo” succeeding as one of the only “smart-speakers” on the market, Google has decided to create direct competition with its newest product “Google Home”. Similar to the Echo, Google Home is a stationary, always-listening digital assistant that has a planned release date of October 4th, 2016. Google Home will contain all the same standard features of the Echo (voice command, music streaming, personal assistance- add items to calendar, turn off lights, check flight status, etc.); however, it will additionally include a customizable appearance as well as a rumoured cheaper selling price. This product will also be complete with Google’s new “Google Assistant”, which is said to have unbelievable conversational qualities when compared to the Echo.
When it comes to entering a market with such direct competition, Google had to find a way to make their product stand out and differentiate from the already existing products. Besides adding plenty of unique attributes (such as the design and software), one of the more notable strategies that the multinational technology company used was one of “Porter’s Generic Strategies”- cost leadership. Porter explains part of this strategy as “the firm sells its products at either average or below average industry prices to gain market share”. The Echo currently sells for $180 and the Google Home is rumoured to sell in between $130-$140, which should prove to be attractive for buyers. By selling this product at a lower price, it should allow Google to enter the market with ease and then possibly raise the prices later on if they choose to add more features/updates or whatnot. Google already has made a very reputable name for its company; however, they need to focus on creating that exact reputation for this individual product. For this to happen, there has to first be potential buyers and what better way to initially get them than to have the cheapest product in the market.
Although the Google Home is going for a cheaper selling price, there is a good chance the company won’t sacrifice the quality of the product because that is not within their business ethics. Google has created plenty of anticipation for this product and it will be interesting to ultimately see if Porter’s suggested strategy works and if the Google Home really does surpass the Amazon Echo.
Displayed beside its “wake-up” phrase, the design of the Google Home is shown.
Morris, Paul. Google Home. 19 May 2016. Web.
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