Amazon's Echo Strategy Is All About Creep

When Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) rolled out its voice-activated Echo in November 2014, it couldn't have imagined the response the smart speaker would get from the public. Driven by its Alexa digital assistant, the device became an instant hit with consumers, with a current installed base of an estimated 15 million devices, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, though Amazon itself does not release sales figures.

With competition from Google Home by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) and HomePod from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) joining the fray, Amazon has decided to up its game, releasing devices with a variety of functions that can be placed in every room of the house. Amazon believes that by getting consumers to buy one device, it may be able to rope them into its ecosystem, in a strategy that has been successfully used by Apple.

A lineup of Echo devices aimed at creating an ecosystem. Image source: Amazon.com.

Source: Fool.com