JBL just launched a new (non smart) loudspeaker line at CES in January. Their Arena line was just launched in 2015. A new product line every three years seems l

JBL just launched a new (non smart) loudspeaker line at CES in January. Their Arena line was just launched in 2015. A new product line every three years seems like a pretty thriving business. JBL and Bose aren't really any cheaper than the other vendors I mentioned. And both of them have lots of non-smart speakers for sale. I'm guessing they are both big enough companies that they can do more than one thing at a time: release fancy smart speakers and dumb speakers. I guess I'm just always a bit dubious when people think the companies with market research, sales data, and customer interviews are getting it all wrong. Sure, that happens sometimes. But it happens so rarely that we're able to remember and cite the exception to the rule. My guess is that they release a lot more smart speakers because there is just more market growth there. Two years ago you sold some guy an AirPlay speaker and now you're selling the same guy an Alexa-enabled speaker. People normally aren't going to be upgrading their speakers every two years. Dumb speakers just don't advance in quality that fast.