Wednesday, December 25, 2024
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Apple’s wireless speakers grow 74% year-over-year thanks to the HomePod mini

Global smart speaker sales reached a record level in 2020 in spite of the challenging conditions precipitated by the Covid 19 pandemic, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics’ Smart Speakers and Screens service. And Apple was the standout performer in the quarter as its global shipments grew by 74% year-over-year following the launch of the $99 HomePod Mini in November.

Apple’s market share reached a record 7.8% in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 3.1% over the previous year. Strategy Analytics says Amazon led the overall smart speaker market in quarter four with a 28.3% share of global shipments as the delayed Prime Day and strong seasonal demand resulted in a return to year-over-year growth for Echo speakers following two quarters of volume decline.

Google finished second with a 22.6% share of the market but its shipments declined slightly versus the previous year. Baidu and Alibaba finished the year strongly, with both posting solid double-digit shipment growth as they put the challenges of the first half of the year behind them.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.