After a hiatus spanning several years, Apple is making a renewed foray into the smart home landscape, unveiling three cutting-edge hardware products: the HomeView Home Screen, HomePod mini 2, and the latest iteration of Apple TV 4K. Furthermore, the tech giant has forged partnerships with LG and Schneider to roll out a range of smart home accessories, with the ambition to construct a smart home ecosystem revolving around these gadgets.

Previously, Apple had dipped its toes into the smart home waters back in 2014 with the introduction of HomeKit. However, the exorbitant price tag of the inaugural HomePod and the initial mandate for manufacturers to embed certification chips in HomeKit-compatible devices erected formidable barriers to collaboration. This, in turn, led Apple to squander valuable market opportunities. In overseas markets, Amazon and Google have established dominance with their budget-friendly smart speakers, while in the domestic arena, Xiaomi has cemented its foothold in the smart home sector by slashing the costs of networking modules (modules enabling internet connectivity) and forging alliances with a multitude of ecosystem enterprises, thereby cultivating a well-established market with high user migration costs.

Now, despite Apple's launch of new products riding the wave of the AI trend, the pertinent features fail to offer substantial advantages. Moreover, the revamped Siri has yet to incorporate Chinese language support, posing a formidable challenge for Apple to penetrate a smart home market already dominated by early entrants.