Last week, new details about Apple’s rumoured Amazon Echo-like smart speaker’s possible design and features emerged on the web, with predictions of the Siri / Airplay-compatible device being unveiled at next month’s WWDC event. Now, a new report by Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) has claimed that Taiwan-based OEM Inventec has landed orders from Apple to produce a connected speaker device (via DigiTimes).
Fo those who aren’t aware, Inventec is the sole assembler of Apple’s wireless AirPods, which has posted consolidated revenues of US $3.321 billion in the first quarter of 2017, increasing 4.6% from a year earlier.
Previously, KGI Securities analyst Kuo Ming-chi has claimed that the connected speaker will be Apple’s first AI-based smart home device powered by Siri, which the company will unveil during its annual WWDC 2017 conference in June. The analyst has also predicted that the connected speaker will be priced higher than Amazon’s Echo, currently which retails for US $179.
Reports have also claimed that Apple’s smart home device would be able to control appliances, locks, lights etc. through Siri voice commands, just like Amazon’s Alexa.
