To The Moon

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From October 20 to 22, along the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference returns once again. Nobel Prize and Turing Award winners will take the stage to discuss the future and trends of technology, and the internet-famous professors who "rescue" people from anxiety and the era of involution — Macfarlane and Xiang Biao — will hold a live dialogue!

Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us join together for a sustainable appointment! [Click to register]

Key Takeaways

$Apple(AAPL)$  $Amazon.com(AMZN)$  $Microsoft(MSFT)$  

Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft released new hardware within a single week, striving to bring generative artificial intelligence fully into the home environment.

Nearly four years after ChatGPT's debut, leading consumer tech companies are rolling out upgraded smart assistants and more powerful on-device AI chips for new laptops, tablets, phones, and smart home hubs.

IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani said: manufacturers first get products into consumers' hands, gradually cultivate usage habits, and collect user feedback.

On October 13, 2026, at a smart home product launch event in New York, USA, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled the HomeView device. This tablet-form product can be wall-mounted or placed on a desktop, and features an AI-upgraded Siri voice assistant.

With only months left before the year-end holiday shopping season, major tech companies are betting that this year AI hardware will finally become a hot Christmas gift. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) concentrated their new device launches over the past week, aiming to bring generative AI into millions of households.

Nearly four years since ChatGPT was introduced, consumer electronics giants are highlighting two major selling points: iteratively upgraded personal voice assistants and faster on-device AI chips, to drive sales of new laptops, tablets, phones, and smart home hubs.

But whether the new products will sell well remains uncertain. On one hand, inflation remains elevated, and U.S. consumer confidence has fallen to a 12-year low; on the other hand, public concerns about AI safety risks continue to rise, compounded by the relatively high learning curve of new technology.

IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani pointed out that manufacturers are currently just laying the groundwork, first popularizing AI hardware among users to build a foundation for larger-scale product iterations in the future. "At this stage, the core goal is to get hardware into consumers' hands, into ordinary households, step by step teaching people how to use it, while collecting user feedback," Ubrani added, noting that at least in the short term, these new products from Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are unlikely to achieve large-scale shipments. Amid macroeconomic headwinds, simply attracting high-spending early adopters would count as a phase victory.

Due to AI servers heavily squeezing production capacity, prices of components such as memory and flash storage have surged, driving up hardware costs across the board. This year, smartphone and laptop shipments have declined significantly.

New Product Moves from the Three Major Manufacturers

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) went first: last week it opened pre-orders for a Windows laptop powered by NVIDIA's RTX Spark chip, starting at $2,599. This chip can run high-performance AI models locally without relying on cloud computing power.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) followed closely: it launched its first hardware product named after its own voice assistant — the Alexa series tablet. The top-tier Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is priced at $550, while the previous generation Fire HD10 sold for only $155.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) released on Tuesday: it introduced the HomeView smart home hub, featuring an AI version of Siri, priced at $299. The device has a 7-inch wall-mountable screen, supports facial recognition, and allows personalized configurations for multiple family members.

In an environment of widespread component shortages, Apple kept pricing within a reasonable range, earning praise from analysts. CounterPoint AI industry analyst Mohit Agrawal said in an email: "Apple prioritizes ecosystem adoption over short-term high hardware margins; this on-device AI hub is priced far below the normal cost of hardware with similar specifications."

Industry Test: Will Consumers Pay for AI Hardware?

Forrester analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee believes this holiday shopping season will be the first major test of demand for AI consumer hardware. "Consumers are interested in AI features, but it's uncertain whether they will be willing to spend money on new devices simply because they have 'built-in AI.'"

Despite economic pressures, year-end holiday spending expectations remain strong. A McKinsey survey in August showed that nearly half of U.S. consumers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season compared to last year. Bain & Company predicted last month that U.S. holiday retail sales will hit a record high, surpassing $1 trillion for the first time; but analysts also cautioned that more than half of the nominal sales growth comes from inflation-driven price increases, and sales volumes of some electronics are likely to remain flat.

Bain's global retail practice head Aaron Cheris said: "People are spending more cautiously now, and consumers will repeatedly weigh: Do I really need to upgrade? Can I extend the replacement cycle of my old device? The replacement cycle for non-essential electronics is continuously lengthening."

All three manufacturers' new products emphasize two major selling points: smarter voice assistants and more powerful local AI chips. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) abandoned its low-priced Fire product line, with the all-new Alexa tablet featuring a premium appearance and highlighting the upgraded AI assistant as its core selling point. Users can simply say "Alexa" or press a button to query information, get personalized recommendations, and control smart home devices; it also supports a "screen intelligence" hands-free mode, where AI can read the tablet screen and automatically execute operations, such as generating a shopping list from a cooking video.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s new NVIDIA-powered laptop can run large AI code models locally. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s HomeView features Apple Intelligence, proactively pushing messages, schedules, and photos; powered by the A18 chip (the world's most powerful phone chip at its September 2024 launch), Siri can answer various questions like a chatbot.

Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi raised the question: Can manufacturers persuade consumers to pay more for stronger local computing power? "I think consumers haven't fully embraced the value of on-device AI, especially when they have to pay a higher device price for it."

Jeff Morgan, CEO of open-source AI software company Ollama, is optimistic about locally deployed models: users can control AI models themselves without relying on cloud subscription services. "Having AI in your own device is a completely different experience from renting AI services online."

Beyond that, manufacturers have longer-term plans: locking in recurring revenue through subscription services. The new Alexa from Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) requires a monthly subscription fee of $19.99, or a Prime membership; Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) users who want to record security surveillance video must upgrade their iCloud storage plan.

Apple will also see the biggest AI hardware highlight this week: the $1,999 foldable iPhone Duo is about to go on sale. This foldable phone can run two apps simultaneously in split-screen mode, including conversing with Siri, providing a PC-level operating interface for AI agents.

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