Google Closes Gap With Amazon, but Both Lag in China Voice Market, Says SA

Google is advancing on Amazon in the smart speaker race, reported Strategy Analytics Monday. Amazon’s Q2 share of the global smart speaker market slipped to 41 percent from 76 percent in Q2 2017, while Google's share grew to 28 percent from 16 percent, it said. The companies had 69 percent of global smart speaker shipments, down from 90 percent, said analyst David Watkins, attributing shrinking share to growing market competition and the tech giants’ “inability to break into the fast growing Chinese market” dominated by Alibaba, JD.com and Baidu. China has the potential to be a “hugely lucrative market for smart speakers and the voice assistant platforms that power them,” said Watkins, calling Google’s recent $500 million strategic partnership with Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com a sign it doesn’t want to miss the opportunity. Though Google’s and Amazon’s pursuits of volume over margin make it difficult for vendors to enter the market with products sporting similar features, the premium end offers upgrade opportunities for “vendors who can entice consumers with superior build and audio quality,” said Watkins. Early adopters of entry-level smart speakers such as the Echo Dot or Google Home Mini who are looking for a second smart speaker will be likely targets for Google and Amazon, he said. Apple staked out an early lead in the premium smart speaker segment due to a “fiercely loyal fan base and strong momentum” behind Apple Music, said the analyst. But SA expects the higher end smart speaker market to grow and become “much more competitive” as vendors such as Samsung look to capitalize on the voice control wave.