While Google’s plans for new Pixel phones and Pixelbook Chromebooks have leaked repeatedly, this one, I think, is new. A report this week claims that the online giant will also release its own smart displays in time for the 2018 holiday season.

“The new product, which is likely to be similar to the Amazon Echo Show, would round out the Google Home range of smart speakers running the artificially intelligent Google Assistant, akin to Amazon’s Alexa,” a report in the Nikkei Asian Review claims, citing sources.

Google’s plan for the smart displays is “aggressive,” one source told the publication, and the firm aims to sell 3 million units over the holidays. That’s impressive, given that Google sold fewer than 4 million Pixel handsets in all of 2017. And given that Amazon sold only 315,000 Echo Show units last year. (Echo Show is Amazon’s Alexa-based smart display.)

As you may know, Google launched its smart display platform this year, combining its Google Assistant technologies with a Google Home-like smart speaker and a display in a single standalone unit. Smart displays are currently on sale by companies like Lenovo, LG, JBL, and Sony, and more are expected by the end of the year. (I’m currently evaluating a Lenovo Smart Display, which I’ve found to be excellent.)

The Nikkei Asian Review report also notes that Google won’t Quanta Computer—which produces the Pixel handsets as well as products like the Apple MacBook Pro—for its smart display. Instead, it will turn to Pegatron, one of a few companies that manufacture iPhones for Apple, and Compal, an iPad components supplier, for the new devices. Foxconn, which also makes iPhones, will apparently manufacture the next-generation Pixel phones for Google.

Tagged with Google Assistant, Google Home, Smart Displays