Chinese technology company Huawei is launching a new smart speaker, designed with French hardware firm Devialet. The device is called the Sound X, and will be sold in China for 1,999 yuan (around $285), marking Devialet’s first such partnership in Asia.
The device will use Huawei’s own Xiaoyi voice assistant, with the company’s Huawei Music streaming service also part of the offering.
This isn’t the first Huawei smart speaker, however: previous devices include 2018’s AI Cube.
China has become the world’s biggest market (by unit sales) for smart speakers. In May, research firm Canalys reported that China blew past the US in the first quarter of 2019, with 10.6m and 5m shipments respectively – giving China a 51% global market share. The same company estimated that China’s shipments grew to 12.6m units in the second quarter of this year, fuelled by sales of devices from Baidu (which overtook Google that quarter), Alibaba and Xiaomi.
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