Not really. The HW design trade-offs would be very different, leading to hardware optimized for different purposes.

One describes Apple in general, while the other points to a specific exceptional case.

The iPhone is a phone, with all the space and power limitations inherent in that form factor. A standalone speaker is something else entirely.

True, but I speak directly into my phone, which I assume is a big advantage for the phone?

Seems like it would be. I never use Siri speaking directly into the phone, because if I have the phone in hand, I just do whatever I need to do and skip Siri. The only time I try it is when the phone is out of reach, or in the car.

Not only that, but his middle sentence is comparing apples to oranges.

That was in fact the point. Siri might work in a speaker orange a lot better than it works in an iPhone apple. ;-)