Alibaba to launch product similar to Amazon Echo

Alibaba to launch product similar to Amazon Echo

People ride a double bicycle past the Alibaba Group logo, at the company's headquarters, on the outskirts of Hangzhou, China

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Alibaba's new product would be made available only in China and speak only Mandarin

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding would launch a product mimicking Amazon's "Echo" next week.

"Amazon Echo", launched in 2014, is a speaker which one can leave on all day and give voice commands to, similar to Siri on an Apple iPhone.

Alibaba's new product would be made available only in China and speak only Mandarin.

Apple and Google, a unit of Alphabet, have unveiled products similar to Echo with the HomePod and Google Home.

The Information, a technology website, was the first to report the news on Thursday.
Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment, outside business hours.