Orange has acknowledged that its own-brand smart speaker, named after the Djingo voice-controlled personal assistant, has failed to live up to commercial expectations, reports Le Figaro quoting Michael Trabbia, who took his new role as Orange chief technology and innovation officer in September. The smart speaker made its market debut in November 2019, after its launch was delayed several times. Trabbia said that Orange was set to reposition its efforts, preferring to scale back the reach of the Djingo personal assistant to the areas where it made more sense to serve customers, namely the operator’s TV service and the ‘Connected Home’ portfolio.
This repositioning signals an exit from the very competitive smart speaker market, where the likes of Amazon and Google have already established a dominant position. Trabbia explained that Orange was reviewing the areas on which to focus its innovation strategy, while noting that the range of activities would remain broad, from the connected home to cyber security.
French consumers can purchase the Djingo smart speaker for EUR 149.99 on the operator's website. The hub controls a number of services delivered by Orange, as well as by partners including Deezer and Meteo France, while also integrating support for Amazon Alexa.
