Amazon Holds Dominant Lead in US Smart Speaker Market, Says CIRP

Amazon Echo has 70 percent of the U.S. installed base of smart speakers, followed by Google Home with 24 percent and Apple HomePod at 6 percent, reported Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Tuesday. The U.S. installed base of smart speaker devices is 66 million units, up from 53 million at the end of September and 36 million in Q4 2017, it said. Holiday shoppers “helped the smart speaker market take off again,” said analyst Josh Lowitz. Market share has remained consistent among the top three players, even as Amazon and Google broaden product lines. Apple’s share will remain limited “until it offers an entry-level product closer to Echo Dot and Home mini,” Lowitz said. Smart speaker owners continue to add to their speaker families, with 35 percent of all owners having more than one device at the end of December vs. 18 percent a year earlier, it said. Google has caught up to Amazon in convincing owners to use smart speakers in multiple rooms, said analyst Mike Levin. A year ago, almost twice as many Echo users as Google owners had multiple units; now, a third of each platform’s users have more than one. Findings were based on a survey of 500 owners of Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod speakers Jan.1-11. Parks Associates said Tuesday that 97 percent of smart speaker households own only one brand, with two-thirds owning an Echo device and roughly a third owning Google Home. The trend of brand loyalty in the early market creates opportunities for device makers to upsell premium products, it said. Consumers who spent over $1,000 in the past 12 months on CE products -- and plan to buy products over the next year -- list smart speakers among their intended buys, along with laptops, TVs, streaming media players and sound bars, said Parks. "Smart speaker owners are increasingly adopting multiple devices in various rooms of the household, said analyst Kristen Hanich, and device makers can “leverage this tendency toward repeat and extra purchases to bundle new and premium products with smart speaker sales."