What Was Amazon Tap and Why Did This Promising Speaker Fail?
Amazon constantly experiments with new devices, but some inevitably fail to catch on. The story of Amazon Tap smart speaker highlights how even early enthusiasm can quickly dissolve without the right features or positioning.
Released in 2016 as a portable Bluetooth complement to Echo smart speakers, Tap showed early potential but was quietly discontinued after just two years.
So what exactly was Amazon Tap, and what went wrong for this seemingly promising product? Our deep dive examines what this speaker offered, why hands-free voice control proved essential, and what its short lifespan reveals about Amazon‘s cutthroat internal gadget competition.
Amazon‘s Budding Smart Home Ecosystem
Amazon Tap entered the scene during the early days of smart home tech adoption. Voice assistants were still new, and while 2014‘s Echo got things started, the cheaper Echo Dot quickly gained ground after its late 2016 release.
In fact, the Dot rapidly emerged as the best-selling Alexa device. Amazon was clearly onto something by bringing their voice assistant to affordable smart speakers suited for any room.
The company saw an opening with Tap to expand this budding ecosystem and lock in customers. As IDC Research Director Adam Wright noted:
"Strategically, Amazon wants to get as many Alexa endpoint devices into consumers‘ homes before Apple, Google, and others steal market share."
Tap aimed to tempt consumers with a portable twist on Alexa integration. But did it deliver?
Hardware & Audio Capabilities
On paper, Tap checked the right boxes to compete with other Bluetooth speakers:
- 360 degree audio spread vibrant sound in all directions
- Dual stereo speakers with 2" driver and passive bass radiator
- Crisp, clear playback even at high volumes
- 9 hour battery life for music streaming on the go
- Charging cradle included for setup anywhere
These hardware specs made Tap comparable sonically to the tall, cylindrical original Echo. Reviewers praised its balanced profile with emphasized vocals and only slightly muted bass response.
So in terms of pure audio performance against other $130 speakers, Tap held its own. But smart features proved its Achilles‘ heel.
The Fatal Flaw of Manual Activation
While similarly priced Bluetooth speakers relied solely on device syncing, Tap‘s smart integration should have given it an edge. Powered by Alexa, it enabled:
- Music streaming via Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn and more
- Audiobooks and radio through native apps
- Smart home device voice control
- Hearing latest news, weather, traffic reports
- Voice calls to hands-free contacts
Yet a fatal UX flaw crippled Tap‘s unique selling proposition. Rather than wake words, users had to press a mic button to activate Alexa.
This seemingly small detail made all the difference in daily use. And it hinted at internal tensions between Amazon teams.
Outflanked By Echo Dot‘s Runaway Success
Amazon‘s Devices group manages Echo products while Lab126 R&D team developed Tap more autonomously. But the groups clearly struggled to reconcile different visions.
In the end, Tap directly competed with that same year‘s Echo Dot, which quickly dominated for three key reasons:
- Affordable $50 retail price that undercut Tap‘s cost
- Full hands-free Alexa access from across the room
- Wider auxiliary compatibility for connecting other speakers
And market data shows Echo Dot rapidly pulled ahead:
Echo Dot Sales vs. Tap (2016-2018)
Echo Dot
- 2016 units sold: 5.2 Million
- Q4 2017 sales up 600% from 2016
Tap
- Estimated 300k-500k units sold
- Discontinued by 2018
Dot‘s runaway success only put more pressure on Tap. And without Wake Word activation or aggressive pricing, it simply couldn‘t compete.
This failure holds a marketing lesson – seamless voice control was the killer feature that cemented Echo‘s appeal across millions of households.
Discontinued After Just Two Years
In response to low sales, Amazon halted all marketing support for Tap by 2017. This fast decline and quiet exit revealed shifting priorities.
Focus turned instead to expanding Alexa compatibility across ever more affordable Echo variants like the Echo Flex and next-gen Dot.
In hindsight, Tap was caught in a no man‘s land between smart speaker innovation and mobility. Devices group leader Dave Limp summed it up: for a portable device, voice activation proved essential.
And as customer expectations solidified around always-listening assistants, Tap‘s compromised user experience sealed its fate.
Could Amazon Resurrect Tap?
Discontinued gadgets sometimes get revived when renewed customer demand emerges.
The Amazon Fire Phone notoriously flopped upon launch, only to make a comeback via [Amazon Renewed] (https://amzn.to/3XbIXWZ) years later due to niche interest.
In Tap‘s case though, outdated hardware and software likely preclude any official relaunch. Buying renewed lacks guarantees too – there‘s no warranty or technical support.
For these reasons, hunting down a discontinued Tap in 2024 makes little practical sense, especially with more advanced Alexa devices now available.
Key Takeaways: Voice Control is a Must-Have
Tap entered the scene at an inflection point when Amazon was primed to dominate smart speakers. But the speaker‘s compromised user experience proved its undoing.
True hands-free operation became the universal expectation for voice assistants – one that Tap failed to deliver. And its middling audio quality and battery runtime simply couldn‘t compensate.
When Echo Dot rapidly matched and exceeded Tap‘s capabilities at just $50, cost-conscious consumers knew which speaker to buy. Tap was quickly left in the dust.
So for future device makers eyeing voice integration, the moral is clear: deliver an effortless voice UX or risk getting passed by. Because in a crowded market, second best earns only short-lived interest.
