How Samsung plans to catch up to Siri and Google Assistant (GOOGL, AAPL, GOOG)

global voice assistant device forecast

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Six months after Samsung unveiled its answer to Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant, the company announced the next iteration of the voice assistant platform, Bixby 2.0, at its developer conference in San Francisco on Thursday.

Bixby 2.0 will enhance the assistant's capabilities in the realm of processing natural language and predicting users’ needs on Samsung’s array of devices. The update aims to improve on the initial flawed version of Bixby, which came under fire for its poor language performance, and could help Samsung position its voice assistant as a strong competitor to Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa.

Samsung is taking the fundamental leap forward in the digital voice assistant arena with this update. Here's how:

Bixby is now capable of recognizing individual users to service multiple users.This ability will enable Bixby to personalize its responses for everyone interacting with the voice assistant. The update comes months after Google introduced the same capability in April, and Amazon introduced it a few days prior. The improved complex processing helps to position Bixby on an even playing field with Google Assistant and Alexa.
The update is geared toward the company’s sprawling ecosystem of connected devices. Bixby will officially be the interface that connects its wide array of devices spanning from smartphones, to smart TVs, to connected fridges. Assistants like Siri currently offer a level of smart home integration, via platforms like HomeKit, for example, but a firm like Samsung with its massive ecosystem of products can make controlling devices in the home much more straightforward.
Samsung unveiled a Bixby software developer kit (SDK) to enable developers to make apps and services with built-in Bixby support. Opening the door for developers to leverage Bixby will pave the way for more devices with Bixby compatibility. Samsung, however, recognizes that it could take some time for developers to jump on board, so the company unveiled Project Ambiance, a small chip that enables Bixby functionality in a number of products.

This is just a step in the continued unveiling of Bixby functionality, as the company plans to add more features to make it more appealing than rival voice assistants.Despite Apple’s, Google’s, and Amazon’s early entrances in the race to expand the reach of their operating systems and voice platforms, Samsung could leapfrog them by tapping into its substantial audience. This could be particularly concerning to Google, as Samsung makes up the largest share of Android devices globally. By 2020, the voice assistant device base is expected to grow to more than 7 billion, up from 4 billion in 2017.

Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the voice assistant landscape that:

Identifies the major changes in technology and user behavior that have created the voice assistant market that exists today.
Presents the major players in today's market and discusses their major weaknesses and strengths.
Explores the impact this nascent market poses to other key digital industries.
Identifies the major hurdles that need to be overcome before intelligent voice assistants will see mass adoption.

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