Apple, Amazon and Microsoft Introduce AI Gadgets for the Holidays

Big Tech’s next AI battle is coming to your holiday shopping cart.

Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are racing to get AI gadgets on shelves in time for the holidays. The three companies have introduced new devices in the past week, each focused on bringing AI into the home. 

Apple unveiled HomeView, a $299 smart home hub, on Tuesday. The device has a mountable, seven-inch screen and facial recognition that tailors the experience to different family members. HomeView runs on Apple’s latest chips and uses Apple Intelligence to surface messages, calendar appointments and photos. An AI-upgraded Siri answers questions conversationally.

Apple’s HomeView pricing drew praise from analysts, who said the company had kept the device affordable.

Mohit Agrawal, an AI specialist at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC recently in an email that the price is a strategic trade-off. Apple is offering a home hub for less than its specifications would suggest.

“Apple has prioritized ecosystem adoption over immediate high hardware margins, delivering a local-AI hub at a price point that undercuts what a spec-heavy machine should logically cost,” Agrawal wrote. 

Amazon and Microsoft have their own AI innovations

Meanwhile, Amazon is replacing its budget-friendly Fire tablet lineup with three new Alexa tablets. Last week, the company announced that it is putting its voice assistant at the forefront of both the branding and the experience. Users can alert Alexa through voice or tap an “Ask Alexa” button to get recommendations, ask questions or control smart-home devices. 

A feature called “On-Screen Intelligence” lets the assistant interpret what’s on the display and act on it. For example, the feature can build a shopping list from a cooking video. The largest model, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, costs $500.

Microsoft is taking a different approach by introducing an Nvidia-powered Windows laptop starting at $2,599. The computer, which Microsoft built around an AI chip, can run demanding AI models directly on the device rather than relying on remote servers. Microsoft is betting that users will pay more for more computing power. 

Will holiday shoppers show demand for AI devices?

The holidays will offer an early answer to a big question for tech companies: Is AI enough to sell a new gadget? Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said in an interview with CNBC that shoppers want to know more about what AI can do.

“What’s less clear is whether they are interested in buying hardware specifically because it is an AI device,” Chatterjee told the outlet. 

There’s still room in consumers’ holiday budgets, even with the economy weighing on their minds. In a McKinsey survey published in August, 47% of U.S. respondents said they planned to spend about the same as last holiday season, while another 23% expected to spend more.

Bain’s September holiday forecast projects that U.S. retail sales in November and December will rise 4.5%, passing $1 trillion for the first time. However, higher prices will account for more than half of that growth.

Big Tech’s next AI battle is coming to your holiday shopping cart.

Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are racing to get AI gadgets on shelves in time for the holidays. The three companies have introduced new devices in the past week, each focused on bringing AI into the home. 

Apple unveiled HomeView, a $299 smart home hub, on Tuesday. The device has a mountable, seven-inch screen and facial recognition that tailors the experience to different family members. HomeView runs on Apple’s latest chips and uses Apple Intelligence to surface messages, calendar appointments and photos. An AI-upgraded Siri answers questions conversationally.