Voice-Based Speaker Ownership Leading to Add-On Smart Home Purchases, Report Says

Nearly 70 percent of Amazon Echo and Google Home device owners have a smart accessory controllable by the voice-controlled smart speaker, said a Monday Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report. Smart accessories include thermostats, appliances, lighting, home security, smoke detectors, security cameras, door locks, doorbells and garage door openers, it said. A quarter, 24 percent, of Echo and Google Home device owners have a smart home security system, said CIRP, and 9 percent have a connected smoke detector, doorbell or garage door opener. More than 70 percent of Amazon Echo and Google Home owners with in-home smart lighting said they bought the system after owning the smart speaker, and more than 70 percent of smart door lock and smoke detector system owners reported using Echo or Home to control the system, it said. The hurdles for adding smart home devices are “very low, as two-thirds or more of Echo and Home owners install many of these systems themselves, without a contractor or installer,” it said. Three-quarters of owners said they use an Echo or Home to control smart accessories, which typically also are controllable by dedicated apps or interfaces, it said. The survey of 300 smart home speaker owners was done July 11-27.