Apple’s Siri Microphone Strategy

In Today’s Daily Tech.pinions column, I outlined why Apple’s presence, although indirect, was glaringly missing from CES the past few years. As I point out, HomeKit is garnering much better support in years past, but there is a higher level point that became clear this year.

One noticeable trend at CES this year was how many consumer electronics vendors were integrating Amazon’s Alexa into their products ONLY for the voice UI or natural language processing engine. A great example of this was Kohler who launched a line of home appliances called Kohler Konnect. This ranged from toilets to faucets and showerheads. The showerhead, and smart mirror, both had Alexa integrated but not to be a speaker to help you play music or set alarms, or ask questions, just to provide the voice UI. Voice commands like “Alexa turn on the shower.” or “Alexa turns on the shower and set the water too hot.”

iDevices similarly released a light switch with Alexa integration built-in with similar intentions. Their premise was simply that Alexa offered the natural language processing engine so you can control your lights using voice hands-free.

Both of these products raise an interesting question as to whether these companies need to fully integrate Alexa and the natural language processing UI into their products vs. just making a skill so they can be controlled from an Alexa enabled smart speaker. An interesting question for sure, but one that may not have an obvious answer yet.

Take, for example, the Kohler shower head. Of course, it makes sense for them to make a skill so I can tell any Alexa speaker in the home to turn on the shower. Say I get home from working out and want to jump right in the shower. Using any Alexa speaker to get my shower going in advance makes sense. However, what about when I’m in the bathroom? What if during the shower I want to change a setting on the shower while I’m taking a shower? I likely have no Alexa speaker in the bathroom so having a hands free control option that is not an Alexa speaker is necessary.

Now, I am sensitive to the argument about why a human wouldn’t just use the manual knobs and dials to control the shower head. This is a philosophical conversation about the voice UI and the value of hands-free control of appliances. Anyone with an Apple Watch will understand immediately the value of removing friction wherever friction can be removed. Having an option to control your appliances via your voice is simply a matter of significant convenience for voice first controls. You may not always use it, but it is a nice to have the option.

The root of the points I’m making above is truly philosophical at this point in time. Should the voice control interface be integrated into as many things as possible, or should they just work or support a voice speaker, smartphone, wearable, etc., so you talk to a secondary object rather than the appliance directly. To go deeper on this point, the question is also one about microphones. How many appliances or objects in your house need a microphone and is the answer many, or just a few? This is what is being worked out as we speak, but one thing is clear. The value of the voice first UI for hands-free control and use of appliances is going to require a microphone present in nearly every room of your house in some capacity.

This may be in the form of a speaker, or on your wrist via a watch, or in your phone, tablet, PC, TV, etc., or all of the above as to cover all the bases. What I do know for sure is there is significant value in being able to control many, if not all of your home appliances or consumer electronics goods at some level. This is why the voice UI as a whole has legs. The assistant part of this is just the smarts that layers on top of the platform. The question for Apple will be squarely on if their current strategy of focusing on a limited number of microphone placements for Siri (i.e., iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, Airpods) is sufficient enough to cover all the bases and contexts for how and what I want to control. Another larger question arises as well as to how much of the Apple installed base will own all of the products which is necessary to make sure a Siri microphone (I’ll call it that now) can hear its owner at all times. If all I have is an iPhone, but I don’t always have my iPhone with me around the house, then Apple’s strategy is problematic. For Apple’s current strategy to work in the home, car, office, etc., you have to believe that an Apple customer will have at least one Siri speaker with them or able to hear them at all times.

The Apple customer base, having a Siri speaker on them at all times is the larger risk in my opinion. Which is why one could argue it would have been smarter of Apple strategically to allow third parties, who make the hardware like ovens and dishwashers and shower heads and thermostats, etc., that Apple has no intention of making and allow those partners to integrate Siri microphones for control. This strategy, the one Amazon, and Google are employing, guarantees an Apple customer has a Siri microphone in earshot (voice shot?) of them at all times.

I know Apple is never first to market, and often they like to enter the market when they are ready with a customer-centric experience. I applaud this strategy, and generally, it has worked out well for them. I’m never going to count Apple out, but I am concerned the market is moving faster than they anticipated.

Published by

Ben Bajarin

Ben Bajarin is a Principal Analyst and the head of primary research at Creative Strategies, Inc - An industry analysis, market intelligence and research firm located in Silicon Valley. His primary focus is consumer technology and market trend research and he is responsible for studying over 30 countries. Full Bio

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