Apple Plans Smart Home Hub Event, Eyes IoT Push

Zacks Investment Research··US·Read original
3▲1 ▼2Impact / 5
Summary · why it matters

Apple is preparing a major push into the smart home market, with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reporting the company is planning an event next month where it could unveil a new smart home hub. The hub could be placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall with an optional stand, and a premium version may feature a robotic arm for 360-degree screen rotation, all powered by a revamped Siri AI platform. The move would pit Apple against Amazon and Google, which built early leads with Alexa and Google Assistant respectively, though Apple's tightly connected hardware and software ecosystem could give it an edge. The number of connected IoT devices has probably grown 14% in 2025 and is expected to reach 39 billion in 2030 and more than 50 billion by 2035, according to IoT Analytics. Apple shares climbed over 1% on Wednesday on the report; the stock is up about 24% this year and trades at a forward price/earnings ratio of 37.21 times versus the industry average of 20.68 times, while Amazon and Alphabet trade at 18.96 times and 16.59 times. Apple's expected earnings growth is 7.57% for the September quarter and expected sales growth is 10.12%, with no upward revisions in the Zacks Consensus Estimate for September quarter earnings over the past month.

Impact on assets 4

Artificial Intelligence± Mixed · 4 stocks
Apple Inc.
AAPL
▲ PositiveTechnologyrelevance

Apple is planning an event to unveil a new smart home hub powered by a revamped Siri AI platform, expanding its product lineup.

Amazon.com Inc
AMZN
▼ NegativeCompetitionrelevance

Apple's smart home hub push would pit it against Amazon, which built an early lead with Alexa.

Alphabet Inc Class C
GOOG
▼ NegativeCompetitionrelevance

Apple's smart home hub push would pit it against Google, which built an early lead with Google Assistant.

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