Hot on the heels of multiple reports that revealed more details about Apple’s Siri speaker, a new story out of Asia claims that Apple already inked a contract with a local supplier to make the iOS-based Amazon Echo competitor.
A couple of insiders with accurate track records said in recent weeks that Apple’s smart speaker for the home is being finalized and the product might be unveiled as soon as WWDC 2017. Apple’s developer event takes place in California next month, where Apple should unveil iOS 11 and the company’s next major macOS update, among other things.
Meant to compete against Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home, the unnamed Siri speaker will be more expensive than these two products, those reports said. Previous reports said the product’s design will have elements that will remind users of Apple’s Mac Pro computer but also of the UE Boom wireless speakers.
Citing Chinese-language Economic Daily News, Digitimes says that Inventec has reportedly won orders to manufacture a connected speaker for Apple. The Taiwan-based OEM will produce Apple’s first AI-based smart home device, the report says. The same company makes Apple’s hugely popular AirPods, which are still backordered at Apple.com. In fact, the only way you can get them right now is to pay a premium on Amazon.
Intentec reported revenues of $3.321 billion for the first quarter of the year, a 4.6% increase compared to the same quarter last year.
