iPod is on the decline. Can smart speakers take over?

iPod is the most revolutionary music player in the world. Its arrival has forced a large number of music devices such as Walkman and CD players to retire from the historical stage, and has also brought about a drastic change in the global music industry. With the advent of iPod, human beings have entered an era of putting music in their pockets.

Likewise, the sun never sets. With the advent of the smartphone era, iPod functions have been integrated into users' phones, leading to a downward trend in sales. After the release of iPhone 6, iPod Classic disappeared from Apple's online store, which also means that this player that changed the music industry is heading for decline in the future.

When listening to music on mobile phones has become a common thing, users are no longer satisfied with the quality of music transmitted by mobile phones. Speakers, a product that was once "looked up to" by ordinary music fans, have once again returned to people's attention.

In the Internet age, the return of audio equipment is dubbed as smart.

Wang Hanhua, president of SONOS China, the world's second largest audio brand, once asked the media two questions: "Have you bought a music CD in the past six months? How many songs have you downloaded from the Internet to your local device in the past six months?"

The answer is obvious. Records have become antiques, and the great changes in the Internet environment have transformed the entire music environment from ownership-oriented to usage-oriented.

This idea has become the theoretical basis for the emergence of smart speakers. I believe that users will have such an experience that the speakers that they once spent a lot of money on often become "dusty" devices in a short time because they need to connect lines and other complicated operations. But if users can control any audio equipment in the house and get any music from the Internet from anywhere in the room, just by using their mobile phones, the usage rate of the speakers will be greatly increased.

At present, domestic smart audio products are of mixed quality. Affected by price and production capacity, most domestic smart audio products are Bluetooth-connected audio products, which simply use audio products as output devices. This is like adding a remote control to a TV without content, but it cannot be compared with a smart TV that obtains content from the Internet. The inability to form a music ecosystem has put domestic smart audio products in a mediocre position.

In the smart speaker industry, the development speed in foreign countries is faster than that in China, and some high-quality brands have begun to realize the huge market demand in China. For example, SONOS, a wireless smart HiFi speaker brand, is an American brand that entered China relatively quickly.

It is understood that in order to adapt to the Chinese consumer market, the core APP of SONOS product control has been optimizing the local experience, and has cooperated with domestic Internet music providers such as QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, Douban FM and Xiami Music. These domestic mainstream music platforms have also made in-depth adaptations for their APPs, and users can directly control and play the speakers in the application under WiFi environment.

This approach has made audio products no longer just sound-producing devices, but has formed an ecosystem from hardware to software to cloud music. Audio equipment can also serve as a home music library. As various music platforms develop towards professionalization, users can enjoy professional-level music quality with audio equipment.

Although SONOS currently only has two home speakers, PLAY:5 and PLAY:3, and two audio amplifiers, CONNECT and CONNECT AMP, in China, it has begun to present a new modern home audio model for domestic manufacturers to learn from.

As the source of music, singers also have their own views on smart speakers. Pop musician Hai Quan said that around 2002, the album sales of "Yu Quan" reached 1.5 million copies, but today, even Eason Chan's albums can only sell a few hundred copies. "This is an Internet era. People are still listening to music, but the way it is spread has changed." He believes that streaming media on the Internet is the future of music.

Wang Hanhua believes that smart speakers have changed the way people connect to music. Music playback in the home can be controlled using a mobile phone without downloading. Different music can be played in different rooms (for example, young people and parents enjoy different music). Coupled with HiFi audio design, the new and free music appreciation mode enables consumers to obtain the ultimate music experience.

When mobile devices are no longer able to satisfy users' picky demands for sound quality, the advent of the smart speaker era is no less significant than the changes brought about when Steve Jobs took the iPod out of his pocket.

It's not just SONOS. With the launch of similar products from Samsung, BOSE and domestic brands, the product lineup of smart speakers is becoming rich and diverse. I believe that "playing with speakers" will become more and more popular.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.