Echo Studio and Echo Dot with Clock Already on Backorder and Unlikely to Arrive by Christmas

Black Friday isn’t even over and we have some insight into the most popular Amazon smart speakers of the season. Echo Studio, the new smart speaker with premium sound quality, is on backorder through December 13th in the U.S. and the fastest shipment is listed as the 22nd. Canada also has a backorder but expects to have devices back in stock on the 15th with delivery dates as soon as the 19th. So, if you order now, you might get a Studio before Christmas in the U.S. and Canada. However, if you are in the U.K., you are out-of-luck. Echo Studio is showing that new stock won’t arrive until January 7th with shipments later that month.

Meanwhile, the new Echo Dot with Clock, the Echo Dot with a digital time display, is currently on backorder in the U.S. through December 30th January 4th. Amazon UK is showing an in-stock date of January 7th6th. Canadians can order now with an in-stock date of January 17th December 12th so the device will be back in stock within a week. By the way, that figure for Canada rose by eight days in one hour before publication and went up by more than a month 24 hours later. Australians don’t appear to have any stock-outs right now which may be a reflection of the more tepid consumer response to Alexa compared to Google Assistant in the country where the latter commands over two-thirds market share.

What the Stock Outs Tell Us

Amazon launches a lot of devices. Sixteen were demonstrated at the recent 2019 product launch event in Seattle. It is part of the company’s strategy to provide many options and keep manufacturing the products that consumers show they like by making purchases. There is always a question about whether new products will be popular. Echo Studio is interesting because Amazon waited five years to deliver a smart speaker with premium sound and because the segment is crowded with competing products from Sonos, Bose, and others. A stock out tells us demand outstripped forecasted supply or there were availability issues driven by manufacturing constraints. Either way, the stock outs are a sign that consumers are expressing interest in Amazon’s most expensive smart speaker.

Echo Dot with Clock is also interesting. The new device only has one difference from the popular Echo Dot, the ability to show the time illuminated by LCD lights on the side of the device. To be clear, you can ask either Echo Dot version the time and receive the answer audibly, but the new version also has a simple display that can save the user a few moments and a couple of words. For that added feature, consumers are expected to pay $10 more at list price and $12.99 more when taking Black Friday discounts into account. Apparently, a number of consumers believe this premium price is worth it for the ability to see the time.

These trends suggest both products will not only have stock outs but are likely to have in stock dates pushed further into 2020 as consumers place orders for future shipment dates. This is precisely what happened the past two years with the most popular smart speaker models. It also means the Echo Studio and Echo Dot with clock are likely to get a long-term position in the Echo product portfolio. As to Google, it appears all devices remain in stock at the Google store.

Editors Note: Article was updated at 8:32 pm EDT on November 30th to reflect new shipment dates for stock outs. 

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