Amazon Echo Spot Comes to Australia but No Echo Show. Is Echo Show 2 Coming Soon?
Amazon Echo Spot, the small Alexa device with a screen that looks like a bedside clock arrived in Australia this month. Previously, consumers could only order the screenless smart speakers such as the Echo, Dot and Echo Plus. Echo Spot was released in the U.S. in December 2017 and availability of Echo smart speakers didn’t arrive until February 2018 in Australia and New Zealand. India had an early access program to Echo devices in the fall of 2017, but general availability also came about in February and Echo Spot only arrived last month.
What appears to be missing is Amazon’s flagship Alexa-driven smart display, Echo Show. The Echo Show has a 7-inch screen compared to the Spot’s 2.5-inches. And, Echo Show retails for $229.99 compared to only $129.99 for the Spot in the U.S. An obvious question is why Echo Show didn’t either predate or arrive alongside the Echo Spot in Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand.
| Country | Echo Show | Echo Spot |
|---|---|---|
| United States | X | X |
| United Kingdom | X | X |
| Germany | X | X |
| Austria | X | X |
| Canada | X | |
| India | X | |
| Ireland | X | |
| Australia | X | |
| New Zealand | X |
Getting Ready for Echo Show 2
Echo Show was launched in June 2017 in the U.S. Three other countries had access to localized Amazon Alexa devices at that point and all three subsequently were able to purchase Echo Show devices as of September 29, 2017. Echo Spot was announced on September 27, 2017. No country where Amazon Echo devices first started shipping after that time has subsequently received Echo Show, but all now have the opportunity to purchase Echo Spot. Hmmm. Why not roll out your flagship product in those countries unless you don’t want to support it because you have a new model arriving imminently?
It would seem logical for Amazon to launch Echo Show 2 with some new upgrades–and better styling–in June shortly before Amazon Prime Day. If this comes to pass, you will likely see Amazon discounting Echo Show heavily in advance of the launch to sell off remaining generation one inventory. Get ready for some Echo Show deals.
The other explanation is that Amazon could simply be holding off because Echo Show didn’t sell very well in the U.S. compared to Spot so they are putting their marketing effort behind the more popular product. Even if that is true, I suspect we will see an Echo Show 2 later this quarter. With at least four Google Assistant supported smart displays from a variety of manufacturers arriving in 2018, Amazon will want to have equivalent or better options for users. You can even anticipate that an Echo Show 2 will come with something special associated with Amazon Prime Video or Twitch to offset the fact that it does not have YouTube. Stay tuned and let me know what you hear out there.
