Smart-Speaker Ownership Through December Jumped 78% From 2017, Says NPR

NPR estimates 53 million U.S. adults own at least one voice-activated smart speaker, and smart speakers owned through December increased 78 percent year over year, it said Monday. Edison Research canvassed 1,002 respondents by phone for NPR just after Christmas and found the average smart speaker home now owns 2.3 such devices, up 35 percent from an average 1.7 the same time last year, it said. Other findings: (1) 52 percent of all U.S. smart speaker owners report using their device daily; (2) an estimated 14 million people in the U.S. got their first smart speaker in 2018; (3) roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population took ownership of a smart speaker between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve.