Siri Speaker: There's An 'Over 50% Chance' Apple Will Announce Device At June's WWDC

Apple’s rumored Siri speaker could be announced as soon as June at the Worldwide Developers Conference, according to a note by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo obtained by MacRumors.

Kuo said there is an "over 50 percent chance” the speaker will be revealed at WWDC, which will be held June 5-9.

Read: Apple Siri Speaker: 5 Expected Features Including Improved Beats Audio, Touchscreen

“We believe there is an over 50 percent chance that Apple will announce its first home AI [artificial intelligence] product at WWDC in June and start selling in the [second half of 2017] in order to compete with the new Amazon Echo models to be launched,” Kuo said in the note.

The analyst also revealed the Siri speaker will cost more than the Amazon Echo. Apple’s rumored speaker will supposedly support AirPlay, which had been rumored before, and will have “excellent” acoustics performance. Kuo also said the speaker, which will compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home, will have a performance similar to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S.

“We expect Apple’s first home AI product will have excellent acoustics performance [one woofer and seven tweeters] and computing power [similar to iPhone 6/6S AP],” Kuo wrote. “Therefore the product is likely to be positioned for: (i) the high-end market, (ii) better entertainment experience and (iii) higher price than Amazon Echo.”

Kuo also said Invetec, a Taiwan company, will be the exclusive speaker supplier.

Apple’s Siri Speaker Rumored Features

iPhone leaker Sonny Dickson tweeted last week Apple was “finalizing designs for their Alexa competitor” and was “expected to be marketed as a Siri/AirPlay device.” He also said the Siri speaker would “carry some form of Beats technology and is expected to run a variant iOS.”

Read: Amazon Echo Look: An Alexa Powered Camera Device That Works As Your 'Style Assistant'

Meanwhile, a CNET report last year said Apple had explored putting a camera into a smart speaker gadget. The report suggests the Siri speaker could come with a built-in camera, similar to the recently released Amazon Echo Look. The camera would work to detect multiple users since gadgets like the Google Home and Echo have trouble distinguishing voices.

A Bloomberg report published September 2016 said Apple had started working on a device similar to the Amazon Echo two years prior and was in prototype testing last fall. The gadget will be able to control home appliances, such as lights, curtains and door locks through voice activation, the report said.

Sources told Bloomberg Apple was trying to differentiate its device from the Amazon Echo and Google Home with a more advanced microphone and speaker technology.

The report also backed up CNET’s claims that the Siri speaker will come with face recognition, pointing out Apple had acquired facial recognition startups Faceshift and Emotient.

Earlier this year, a DigiTimes report said Apple was working on boosting Siri’s capabilities to compete with smart assistants after the Amazon Echo and Google Home gained popularity. To improve Siri, Apple acquired Australian start-up Turi last August for $200 million.