作為媒體人，我們自己也試用過不少家用揚聲器，比如亞馬遜的Alexa、谷歌的Home和蘋果的HomePod等等。到目前為止，大家的共識是，價格最高的HomePod的音質(zhì)最好。但它的功能也是最有限的，它不能像其他競品一樣播放Spotify上的音樂，不能在TuneIn上聽廣播，也不能利用語音助手功能給我們的小狗買狗糧，或者回答其他一些瑣碎的問題。更令人不爽的是，它必須要與一部iPhone連接。如果非讓我買一部類似的智能家居產(chǎn)品，我會買一臺小巧可愛的、圓形屏幕的亞馬遜Echo Spot放在我的辦公桌上，這樣我每天的工作會變得更加愉快和高效。

今年9月，蘋果發(fā)布了適配iPhone和iPad的iOS 12軟件，同時升級了HomePod的系統(tǒng)。HomePod終于可以設置多個定時器和接打電話了。而亞馬遜Alexa的電話功能則是通過一個連接固定電話的轉(zhuǎn)接器實現(xiàn)的。（Alexa也可以直接給其他擁有Alexa設備的人打電話。）

一些市場研究公司認為，蘋果是智能家居助手市場上的新丁，而且只發(fā)布了一款高端產(chǎn)品，因而它的市場占有率較低也不足為奇。但市調(diào)機構Strategy Analytics公司發(fā)布的一項近期調(diào)查顯示，雖然今年二季度蘋果在智能家居市場上的銷量份額只占6%，但如果按批發(fā)收入計算，HomePod則可占到16%，在收入上幾乎與市面上賣得最好的兩款產(chǎn)品——谷歌的Home Mini和亞馬遜的Echo Dot旗鼓相當。換句話說，在售價200美元以上的產(chǎn)品區(qū)間，蘋果足足占據(jù)了70%的銷量份額（和將近100%的收入份額）。

數(shù)字助手這個市場顯然還有很大的發(fā)展空間。在Hulu公司最近拍攝的一部未來主義風格的電視劇《火星先驅(qū)者》中，2030年的人們都使用一種小型耳機，它兼具電話、電腦和智能數(shù)字助手的功能。目前，無人駕駛汽車技術方興未艾，但我們在智能揚聲器上走得并不算遠。究竟是完美適配電腦和手機的蘋果高端產(chǎn)品，還是緊盯臥室娛樂戰(zhàn)略的亞馬遜Alexa，還是其他競爭者將主宰這一新興領域，目前還不得而知。總之，現(xiàn)在我們只需要繼續(xù)聽下去就好了。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

In the Pressman household, we’ve tried several Amazon Alexa speakers, a Google Home assistant, and Apple’s HomePod. The general consensus so far seems to be that the HomePod, which has by far the highest price, has the best sound. But it’s also been the most limited in functionality. It can’t play our Spotify music or radio stations via TuneIn, take an order to buy more dog food for the pup, or answer trivia questions as well as the competition. And it can be annoyingly dependent on a linked iPhone. If I had to pick a favorite in the market right now, I’d go with the cute, round-screened Amazon Echo Spot sitting on my desk that makes my work day a little more pleasurable and efficient.

Apple updated the HomePod’s software alongside the release of its iOS 12 update for iPhones and iPads in September. Finally (I joke) you can set multiple timers. You can also directly make and receive phone calls, a trick our Alexa does only via a box that connects to our landline. (It can also call other people with an Alexa devices on its own.)

Apple was late to the game (not quite as late as Samsung) and has only a premium offering, so it’s probably not surprising that its market share in this incipient market has been pretty low, according the various market tracking firms. But a new analysis out from research firm Strategy Analytics recently offers a new view on the state of the market. While Apple had only a 6% share of devices sold in the second quarter, by wholesale revenue its HomePod had a 16% share, nearly equal to the dollars of sales brought in combined by Google’s Home Mini and Amazon’s Echo Dot, the two best-selling devices. Said another way, for devices that cost $200 and up, Apple has a 70% device share (and probably a near-100% revenue share).

There’s a long, long way to go in the digital assistant market. In Hulu’s new futuristic drama The First, people in 2030 use small earpieces that have the functionality of phones, computers, and smart digital assistants all in one. There are plenty of self-driving cars in sight, but no smart speakers. Whether Apple’s premium play, which obviously worked out great for computers and smartphones, or Amazon’s Alexa-for-every-room strategy, or another player wins out is yet to be seen. For now, we’ll have to just keep listening.