Over 50% Chance That Apple Will Unveil Siri Smart Speaker at WWDC [Report]

There's over a 50% chance that Apple will unveil a Siri smart speaker to rival the Amazon Echo at WWDC this year, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

We believe there is an over 50% chance that Apple will announce its first home AI product at WWDC in June and start selling in the ]second half of 2017] in order to compete with the new Amazon Echo models to be launched […]

We expect Apple’s first home AI product will have excellent acoustics performance (one woofer + seven tweeters) and computing power (similar to iPhone 6/6S AP). Therefore the product is likely to be positioned for: (i) the high-end market; (ii) better entertainment experience; and (iii) higher price than Amazon Echo.


We've been hearing rumors about an Amazon Echo competitor from Apple since last year. Just recently, Sonny Dickson, another well known leaker, claimed that Apple was finalizing the design of the device and that it featured a Mac Pro style. Dickson described a device that has a concave top with controls and is fat with the speaker mesh portion covering it all.

WWDC 2017 takes place June 5-9 in San Jose, California. Make sure to follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.

[via MacRumors]