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Case HBS Case Collection June 2018 (Revised January 2020) Voice War: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri |
By early 2018, voice-controlled intelligent assistants had become a major new front in the battle between the giants of the technology sector. "Voice War" focuses on Alphabet’s strategy for Google Assistant, its entrant in the voice assistant space, and asks how the voice assistant should fit in with Alphabet's larger portfolio of products and services. While the mobile phone was the major platform for Google Assistant, Alphabet had recently introduced a range of smart home speakers to challenge first-mover Amazon’s Echo of devices, which were powered by its intelligent assistant, Alexa. Google also faced competition from Apple, whose intelligent assistant Siri had long been a staple of its mobile devices, but which introduced a smart home speaker in early 2018. Other competitors included Microsoft and Samsung, along with Chinese players Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi.
Keywords: Alphabet; Amazon; Apple; strategy; technology; intelligent assistants; smart speaker; voice assistants; voice; platform; Technology Adoption; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Product Positioning; Technology Industry;
Yoffie, David B., Liang Wu, Jodie Sweitzer, Denzil Eden, and Karan Ahuja. "Voice War: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri." Harvard Business School Case 718-519, June 2018. (Revised January 2020.)
