EU Antitrust Watchdog Raise Concerns Overs Alexa, Siri, Google's Voice Assistant Dominance: Reuters

  • The European Commission red-flagged Amazon.com Inc's AMZN Alexa, Apple Inc's AAPL Siri, and Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Google Assistant over possible anticompetitive practices after a year-long inquiry into voice assistants, other internet-connected devices and responses from over 200 companies, Reuters reported.
  • Statista estimates Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant global market to double to 8.4 billion devices between 2020 and 2024.
  • Further determination will be made after a 12-week long public consultation ending Sept. 1 and a final report due in the first half of 2022.
  • The EU antitrust watchdog's inquiries revealed concerns regarding certain exclusivity and tying practices related to voice assistants, self-promotion by voice assistant providers via default settings, data retention, and lack of device interoperability.
  • Amazon defended, citing Alexa's compatibility with over 140,000 smart home products and its Voice Interoperability Initiative agreements with 80 companies.
  • The Commission has proposed new rules under the Digital Markets Act to address the concerns. The Act is likely to be implemented by 2022.
  • Price action: AMZN shares traded higher by 0.55% at $3,282.01 on the last check Wednesday.
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