Oft-delayed Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker gets a confusing new launch window
Samsung sure took its sweet time preparing the company's first-ever smart speaker for a public preview alongside the Galaxy Note 9 last year, but as if Amazon, Google, and Apple didn't get a substantial enough head start in this thriving market, the Galaxy Home is still not up for grabs.
Granted, the tech giant responsible with the creation of Bixby never mentioned a release schedule for the divisive voice assistant's first standalone device... until a few months ago. Unfortunately, April came and went without any sign of the Samsung Galaxy Home in stores around the world, and it looks like the Echo and Google Home rival will end up missing its other self-imposed deadline as well.
We're only a few weeks away from the end of the year's first half, and according to Kim Hyun-suk, one of Samsung's co-CEOs and the President of the Consumer Electronics division, that's no longer the commercial goal of the Galaxy Home. Instead, the company is now aiming for a "mid-second half of the year" launch, which sounds... more than a little confusing.
To provide a hint of clarity, "other Samsung executives" purportedly told The Korea Herald to expect a Q3 rollout, although there's still no official word on where might the Galaxy Home be made available first. Last year's rumored plan was to bring the voice-controlled smart speaker to China, Korea, and the US ahead of other markets, but it's unclear whether or not the company's strategy remains the same.
We're also curious to see if the Galaxy Home re-release will take place alongside the formal announcement of the Galaxy Note 10 sometime in August. After all, the year's third quarter does include the month, although September would be closer to the midpoint of 2019's second half.
Finally, there's now a good chance the Galaxy Home and Home Mini will be launched simultaneously this fall to properly challenge Amazon and Google's extensive smart speaker lineups. But the question remains - is Samsung a bit way too late to the party to ever gain a foothold in this rapidly growing market? Could Bixby ever offer at least a fraction of Alexa and Google Assistant's smarts and versatility?
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