Smart Speakers

One in six Americans now own a smart speaker, according to
new research out this week from NPR and Edison Research –
a figure that’s up 128 percent from January, 2017. Amazon’s
Echo speakers are still in the lead, the report says, as 11
percent now own an Amazon Alexa device compared with 4
percent who own a Google Home product.

Today, 16 percent of Americans own a smart speaker, or
around 39 million people.

The holiday shopping season also seemed to have played
a role in the increased adoption of smart devices in the U.S.,
with 7 percent of Americans reporting they acquired at least
one smart speaker between Black Friday and the end of
December, and 4 percent saying they acquired their first s
mart speaker during the holidays.

Both Amazon and Google used the holiday shopping season
to their advantage in terms of acquiring market share for their
respective devices by slashing prices to encourage more
impulse buys, and by heavily promoting the items across their
storefronts. In fact, analysts believe that both Amazon and
Google likely lost a few dollars per unit during the holiday
season, where they were discounting their smaller form factor
devices to $29 for the Amazon Echo Dot and $50 for the Google
Home Mini, for example.

The end result for Amazon was that the Echo Dot became a
top seller across its site and by manufacturers through the Black
Friday weekend, and through the holidays, Amazon recently said.

The new report also delved into how consumers are using their
devices, which have a range of functions including things like being
able to stream music, control their TV and other smart home
devices, and more.