Amazon cuts Echo price, adds new Alexa devices
Online retailer turns up volume on Apple, Google
The online retailer is slashing prices to undercut Google, introducing better acoustics in response to a forthcoming Apple speaker and rolling out new formats to appeal to different tastes and needs.
“We want to make sure we are building a product that everyone can use,” David Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services, said during a Wednesday event showcasing the company’s holiday product line-up at its Seattle headquarters.
Amazon so far has proven far better at discounting a potpourri of goods online than it has been at making its own devices.
But Amazon has found a way to play a bigger role in people’s homes with the Echo, an internet-connected speaker starring Alexa as a concierge who can do everything from order a pizza to turn out the lights on command.
The Echo’s popularity prodded Google to introduce its own internet-connected speaker, Home, with a digital assistant last year. Apple is scheduled to roll out its own speaker, the HomePod, in December.
Google has been positioning its speaker as a less expensive alternative with a smarter assistant. Amazon now aims to erase the price advantage with the next generation of the Echo. The new version will sell for $100, down from the $180 price for the current version.
Google’s Home speaker currently sells for $130, but that price could be lowered next week when the company is expected to unveil its own holiday line-up in San Francisco.
Amazon is also adding higher fidelity equipment to the next-generation Echo in an apparent response to the HomePod. Apple is promoting its speaker primarily as a superior sound system for music. The HomePod, though, will cost three times more than the next-generation Echo at almost $350.
For those that want even better sound and more features for controlling internet-connected lighting and appliances inside the home, Amazon also is introducing the Echo Plus, a slightly taller speaker that will sell for $150.
Amazon also will sell the Echo Connect, which can serve as a speaker system for a landline phone. It is debuting small devices for playing games called Amazon Buttons and another Alexa-powered device with a 2.5-inch screen called the Echo Spot. The Spot, designed to resemble an alarm clock, will cost $130.
It unveiled a new version of its Fire TV player that will stream 4K video like its predecessor, but will sell for $70, down from $100.