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If you're an avid reader of Tech News, you probably often have a good idea of what Apple will announce at each product event. For a Google event, chances are you've even seen videos of someone using a filtered product weeks in advance.
But when it comes to Amazon events, it's not uncommon to come up with very few ideas about what's going to happen. This is still true for tomorrow's event: we know that Amazon will announce new hardware, but we have no idea what's coming next.
There are several reasons why Amazon manages to keep its ads so secretly secret, some of which are unique to Amazon. Due to the nature of the company, it is likely that the security of its supply chain is much better than that of most competitors. Since Amazon hardware is not as expected as Apple's products, for example, the demand may decrease. world.
It's not a difference in marketing strategy. In general, companies prefer to keep their products secret so they can stand out from competitors who want to copy and compete with their products. Amazon is one of the only companies that can regularly keep a secret.
Businesses use many tips to keep their ads secret. In 2016, it appeared that Apple was masking trademark registration applications by first filing them in countries like Trinidad and Tobago, where it was necessary to browse baskets to request information on existing depots, like going physically to an office. Amazon uses a similar solution using screen companies to prevent brand applications from being linked.
But many leaks come from outside companies, such as retailers or, most often, suppliers that manufacture these devices. External companies can be much more difficult to lock, which can result in parts, schematics, or entire devices that make their way into the world weeks or months before they are supposed to.
That's probably why Google has had so much trouble keeping the Pixel secret. Google is relatively new in hardware and has not had as much time to develop comprehensive procedures to prevent its products from running away. Amazon, on the other hand, has been manufacturing the Kindle for more than a decade, and its business is moving things right from one place to another. So it's no surprise that Amazon is preventing better products from disappearing, as seems to happen with Google every year.
Ensuring the security of the supply chain involves taking a number of seemingly simple steps that, if missed, can lead to enormous problems. The problem can be as fundamental as the placement and surveillance of security cameras, says Jim Yarbrough, head of supply chain security at BSI standards body. Even if the cameras are properly placed, companies may be exposed to security breaches if too many employees are then able to see exactly what these cameras are watching.
"We have seen this happen literally. This is a gap, you should not be able to get there and see what these monitors show, "says Yarbrough.
There is also the question of interest. Hundreds of millions of iPhones are sold each year. Journalists, analysts and fans have a reason to look for information on upcoming events. Whole businesses are also thriving around the iPhone. Accessory manufacturers and crate manufacturers need to know what is coming in order to be able to prepare the products and prepare them to be shipped from the first day, lest other companies outperform them. In addition, since the iPhone is at the heart of Apple's business, the details of a future model can change the financial markets and make this information particularly useful.
The hardware is a good deal for Amazon – it sold "tens of millions" of Echos in 2018 – but that's not as important to the company's results. In addition, few people will buy an Echo each year (and the new features of the phones will not be as easy to get excited as the new features of the phone), but incentives will be less motivated, as well as fans. chase the leaks. Accessories for Amazon devices are also a much smaller market. Echo speakers usually stay at home on a table. They do not require cases, batteries, extra cables, etc.
What leaks we make get from Amazon seem to come from insiders of the company. CNBC published yesterday an article on Alexa-integrated headphones that quoted "a person directly involved in the project". He also spoke of a new echo with superior sound quality.
Amazon is not immune to leaks, but it seems that areas with some of the largest gaps are even better controlled, preventing complete disclosure of devices several months in advance. .
This means that our knowledge of the event of tomorrow is much more limited than our advanced knowledge of the typical technological event. We know the main lines, but this is mainly due to the story and what Amazon teased. Even details, like Alexa headphones, are not as specific. Will the earphones be designed for casual listening, like the AirPods, designed for sporty use like the Powerbeats Pro or something else? We do not know.
Other companies would like to be in this position. It would be much harder for competitors to copy Apple's next progress if they have to wait for these features to be officially unveiled on the stage. Amazon is the only one that can regularly achieve this. But as hardware becomes more important to its business and Amazon devices go to more and more people, keeping these locked secrets could become more difficult.
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