Alibaba Imitates Amazon's Echo Speaker Strategy

The Alibaba (BABA) versus Amazon (AMZN) contest is getting more interesting. Alibaba is now convinced that Bezos' Alexa-enabled Echo smart speaker is really an effective way to compel more people to do repeat online purchases. It understood why Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) all came up with copycat versions of the Amazon Echo. Jack Ma also probably believed RBC Capital Markets' projection that the Echo speaker could generate $10 billion in business for Amazon by 2020. Even though Alibaba is a Business-to-Business [B2B] e-commerce operator, it is now selling its own $73 smart speaker. I do not know the exact details regarding how Alibaba will implement the cloud Artificial Intelligence component in the Tmall Genie.