Google Assistant is now available with Bose, Sonos, and Lenovo

This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence IoT Briefing subscribers.

To receive the full story plus other insights each morning, click here.

Google's smart speaker ecosystem just got bigger and more diverse with two new announcements involving third-party manufacturers.

Here's how device-manufacturing partners are embracing Google's smart home tools:

Google Assistant is now available on select Bose and Sonos smart speakers.Previously, both companies' smart speakers only supported Amazon's Alexa. Bose's integration of Google Assistant follows a similar announcement by Sonos last week that it too would integrate the voice assistant into its lineup of smart speakers. Sonos' and Bose's smart speakers expand the range of devices available in Google's smart home ecosystem to include devices with first-rate audio quality and higher price points, which gives consumers more options that suit their preferences — Google's flagship Google Home smart speaker sells for $99, Sonos speakers start at $199, and Bose at $399.

Lenovo's Google Assistant-enabled Smart Clock is now available for preorder and will ship next month.The $79 device, which debuted in January at CES 2019, is a small smart display designed for use in the bedroom, and features quick access to an alarm function, weather, and traffic. The clock will directly compete with Amazon's Alexa-enabled Echo Spot, which sports many similar functions but includes a camera that can be used for video calling. The Smart Clock is beneficial for Google because adds a new class of device to the company's smart home ecosystem — it currently doesn't offer its own direct competitor to the Echo Spot.

The bigger picture: Google is building out a wider ecosystem of supported smart home devices than its rival Amazon by embracing third-party device makers.

Google's partnerships with third-party manufacturers are expanding its ecosystem of Google Assistant devices, but much of Amazon's lineup is staying in-house. While Google Assistant is included in smart displays from companies such as JBL, Lenovo, and LG, there are currently no Alexa-enabled third-party counterparts on the market (although Amazon does offer a development kit for smart display devices like the Echo Show and Echo Spot).

That has limited the scope of Amazon's smart home ecosystem. Amazon needs third-party manufacturers to make displays that utilize its voice assistant to prevent the market from being flooded with Google Assistant-powered smart displays, something that Google seems increasingly intent on doing.

Google's efforts to make its voice assistant platform attractive for smart display makers could help it catch up to Amazon in the US smart display market — in 2018 67% of US smart displays used Amazon Alexa compared to just 33% for Google Assistant.

Catching up to Amazon will be especially important for Google given that smart display adoption is growing, particularly among smart speaker owners — in January 2019, 13% of US smart speaker owners also owned a smart display, up from just 3% a year earlier.

Interested in getting the full story？ Here are two ways to get access:

1. Sign up for the IoT Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 3x a week. >> Get Started

2. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the IoT Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now