Apple, Amazon and Google each attacking the smart home market with a unique approach
Amazon is pursuing an open-systems approach that allows quick development of many features, while Apple is taking a slower route, asserting more control over the technology in order to assure security and ease-of-use.The strategic importance of the “connected home” niche looms large: Amazon wants a way to own its customer interactions -mainly shopping online – without an Apple phone or a Google Web browser as an intermediary.
Apple needs to keep the iPhone at the center of customers’ lives, and has built a whole home automation architecture, called Homekit, into its smartphone.
Google, for its part, is investing heavily in both intelligent assistant software and home-automation devices like the Nest thermostats and, more recently, the Google Home speaker.
Source: Apple strategy in ‘smart home’ race threatened by Amazon | Reuters
While things might seem calm at times in the comfort of your own home, rest assured there’s a massive battle between Amazon, Alphabet and Apple looming for control of that house. Control in the form of which devices ultimately end up at the center of your appliances, thermostat, lights, irrigation system and everything else that has a chip embedded in it.
As the saying goes, “To a carpenter with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” So it’s not so surprising that when the players in this struggle have much to gain or lose in this battle, each is attempting to bunker in around its key business operations: Apple with the iPhone, Amazon with online shopping, and Google’s Alphabet, well frankly, a little scattered approach which is in line with its overall strategy.
The interesting part of this article that grabbed our interest was the focus on security — Apple which has been burned in the past with security breaches in its products and Amazon which is taking an open-architecture approach.
Who are we pulling for? To be transparent, we’re Apple users through and through, but also heavy Amazon shoppers. So frankly, we’re hoping for some Cola Wars here, with all three players making significant inroads into the space, which will not only drive adoption, but also innovation in the space.
