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Airbnb Sees Opportunities in Smart Homes in Partnerships With Apple, Amazon and Google

Dennis Schaal photo
Dennis Schaal

Photo Credit: An Amazon Alexa in a home as seen in March 2018. Airbnb would consider a partnership with Amazon, Google or Apple to foster smart-home tech. Flickr / Roberta Couse-Baker

Skift Take

In the long term, it's clear that Airbnb will revisit recalibrating its focus beyond stays and experiences, and will dabble in flights, hotels, and smart-home technology. It would be silly not to.

Nearly a year-and-a half since Airbnb had to shut down its plans to debut flights because of the Covid crisis, chief financial officer Dave Stephensen said the company sees revenue opportunities beyond booking stays in potential smart home partnerships with Google, Amazon, and Apple. Speaking at a Nasdaq investor conference Thursday, Stephensen said he welcomes competition from the smart home trio, and sees an opportunity to work with them on automating home technology. He said Airbnb has lagged in this arena, and is "under-penetrated." "I'm actually very bullish in the long-term," he said — without

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