Apple Sets Sights on Smart-Home Market with Siri-Powered Hub

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) is expanding its presence in the smart-home market with a new Siri AI-powered hub set to debut in October. The move aims to challenge Amazon and Google's dominance in the sector.

The main product is a roughly 6-inch display that can be placed on a counter or mounted on a wall. It will allow household members to recognize one another by voice or face, displaying personalized messages, calendars, contacts, notes, and apps.

Apple sees this hub as the central controller for various connected devices, including locks, thermostats, FaceTime, music, recipes, and more. The company is also expected to unveil an upgraded HomePod mini with faster hardware for Siri AI, along with a new Apple TV set-top box and a broader smart-home ecosystem built around HomeKit and Siri.

In the future, Apple plans to develop a privacy-focused home sensor and a higher-end 9-inch hub featuring a robotic arm that can rotate the display 360 degrees. This marks one of the first major product expansions under new CEO John Ternus.