[woodruffw]

$29 is the sale price, not the BOM price. The entire point of "smart" home devices is to reduce consumer friction around revenue-driving actions; it would be surprising if Amazon were to prioritize making a profit on a $29 device rather than the sales and subscriptions it facilitates.

[jrockway]

I don't know if it's every smart home vendor's goal to drive revenue. Apple sells their smart speakers for $100 or $300, which doesn't seem like a "loss leader" price, and it doesn't ask you to buy anything else. Their marketing page mentions what it can integrate with (smart locks, smart lights, etc.) but those things are notably not subscriptions. If you buy a smart light switch and a smart speaker, then you can just say "Hey Siri turn off the lights in the kitchen" and nobody ever gets any more money, and you didn't have to go downstairs and turn off the lights in the kitchen.

This seems like a very justified smart home. I am skeptical of all things proprietary technology, but Apple's stuff bothers me the least.