Domestic companies are also actively working. KT and SK have released speakers in the domestic market, while LG, Naver, and KakaoTalk are in the preparation stage. SK announced that NUGU, which began sales in September of last year, has surpassed 100,000 units sold. In June, the company plans to launch Aibril, a Korean version of Watson in collaboration with IBM's Watson. An SK C&C Aibril representative stated, "There were no open API companies in Korea, and Watson has already emerged as a powerhouse in natural language processing. We chose a strategy focused on securing data rather than dedicating time to building a platform."

KT's Giga Genie introduced a speaker integrated with a set-top box to existing Olleh TV customers, and KakaoTalk launched Kakao Brain in February to develop artificial intelligence.

Naver unveiled its artificial intelligence, Clova, before launching its speaker. The speaker, Wave, is scheduled to be released this summer, along with the display-equipped Face. Naver announced that it will differentiate itself beyond its auditory-reliant speakers by leveraging AI technology that leverages all five senses. Furthermore, it plans to open the Clova API SDK. This is a strategy to build an ecosystem based on Clova, just as Amazon attracted third-party companies by releasing the Alexa SDK in 2015, and now has over 10,000 technologies that can be implemented through Alexa.

So why are so many companies rushing to release voice assistant speakers?
Voice assistant speakers are a three-tiered system comprised of a platform API that supports convenient use, customized environment data tailored to the user, and the speaker itself. Built on a single algorithm, voice assistant speakers not only play music and radio, but also recommend books and movies the user might like, and even decide whether to approve credit card transactions—all within the same algorithm.

In the B2B market, call centers can operate in finance, communications, and distribution, producing different outcomes. Conversely, the B2C market is divided into various media within the same algorithm. As more data accumulates, more natural responses become possible. Therefore, companies are developing their own voice input and releasing their own speakers to ensure they don't miss the "starting point" of AI. Ultimately, what these companies want is customer data.

This is confirmed by an industry insider. "Speakers are merely a transitional step toward data accumulation," he said, adding that speakers are currently achieving results simply by eliminating remote controls in the home. The story goes that the voice assistant speaker was created at the intersection of companies' data and customers' curiosity.

The problem is that, when looking at speakers alone, the service offered to customers doesn't differ significantly regardless of which device they choose. The technology is still largely the same, and its uses are limited to audio speakers, limited information, and control. Some argue that it's more important to achieve technological advancements through a common API than for individual companies to develop their own.

What matters is how consumers perceive voice assistant speakers. While it's important for companies to create a market, a market can only be formed if consumer needs are adequately reflected. It's crucial to consider whether the device offers sufficiently "intelligent" functionality in real life, worthy of the label "artificial intelligence." While securing data to expand the potential market is crucial for companies, they must also focus on transforming this consumer curiosity into a true "assistant" that understands users' minds. Mere curiosity doesn't guarantee market survival.