(Bloomberg) -- Sonos Inc. entered the growing smart speaker market, a move that forces the privately held company to both compete and cooperate with some of the world's largest technology companies, including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google.
The Sonos One smart speaker, introduced Wednesday at a press conference in New York by Chief Executive Officer Patrick Spence, looks similar to the company's Play:1 speaker but adds six far-field microphones for capturing voice commands and a new array of buttons at the top for controlling the device.
The gadget includes Amazon's Alexa voice software for controlling music playback, Sonos said at the product's event. The company will add support for Google Assistant next year.
Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay
"Some companies put up walls, they say if you want access to everything you have to buy everything," Spence said. "No one company gives you everything you need."
The announcement comes just a week after Amazon introduced several new Alexa-powered Echo speakers, including a high-end model called the Echo Plus, a new middle-tier $99 version with louder speakers, and a nightstand-focused Echo Spot with a screen and video calling.
Sonos, known for sound quality, also will be competing with a similar product from Apple called the HomePod, which comes out in December and is controlled by the Siri voice-based digital assistant. Google is announcing a smaller, cheaper version of its Home smart speaker Wednesday, too.
As an early pioneer in the internet-connected speaker space, Santa Barbara, California-based Sonos is late to the voice-controlled game. Amazon popularized this market with the Echo's introduction in 2014, while Google's first speaker hit the market in 2016. Apple's HomePod was announced in June.
Spence became CEO in January after his predecessor John MacFarlane resigned, ending a 14-year tenure. In 2016, Sonos laid off some employees, and MacFarlane said the company needed to focus more on paid streaming music services and embedding voice control in its products.
Beyond sound quality, Sonos said its smart speaker differentiates itself by supporting multiple voice assistants and music services. The new Sonos One speaker has Amazon's Alexa built-in, so users can speak commands directly to the speaker. Sonos and Amazon partnered earlier this year to bring Alexa support to Sonos speakers by connecting an Echo device. Sonos said Wednesday that its beginning to roll out a test version of this functionality to some existing customers.
The new speaker will cost $199 and will be available Oct. 24. The company's Play:1 speaker without built-in Alexa is the same price, while its loudest and largest device, the Play: 5, costs $500. Apple's HomePod will be priced at $350, while Amazon's smart speaker lineup ranges in price from $50 to $230.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in San Francisco at mgurman1@bloomberg.net, Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Molly Schuetz
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
