Amazon's Connected Home Focus on Expanding Ecosystem: Cowen

Amazon’s hardware introductions (see 2009240052) Thursday “underscore a focus on the connected home as an entry into its ecosystem” Cowen analyst John Blackledge wrote investors Friday. They’re also “another opportunity” to leverage Amazon Web Services, he said. It's “going for multiple shots on goal with the burgeoning connected home, leveraging innovations in cloud computing (AWS) and machine learning (Alexa) that can be incorporated across nearly all of these devices.” Cowen estimates 31% of U.S. households own an Echo vs. 27% in Q3 last year. It predicts continued Echo share gains in Q4.