Smart speaker penetration in US households strong says study

A new study shows that smart speaker adoption is up 128 percent year-over-year in the US market. According to the study conducted by NPR and Edison Research, as many as one in six Americans now own at least one smart speaker. The segment proved to be popular at CES 2018, with a number of smart speakers powered by Alexa and Google Assistant on show, reflecting the increasing viability of the segment.

Amazon currently holds the lead in the segment having created it in late 2014 when it launched the Amazon Echo powered by its in-house personal assistant, Alexa. It holds around two-thirds of the US market share with Google holding the remaining third of the market with its Google Assistant-powered Google Home range. Both companies also recently discounted their small speaker entrants in the market, with both the Amazon Echo Dot and Google Home mini going head-to-head as each tries to get a foothold in households.

Apple is yet to register in the segment despite announcing the Siri-powered HomePod last year, but it failed to launch the device ahead of Christmas as it had originally planned. This could have proven to be quite costly to the Cupertino giant as the study showed a significant spike in smart speaker sales following the Black Friday and in the lead up to the holidays. Speakers powered by Microsoft’s Cortana powered are few, and are yet to catch on in the market.

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