The global smart speaker market reached a new high in 2019 with sales of 146.9 million units, an increase of 70% on 2018, according to new research from Strategy Analytics. Apple, with its HomePod, remains in six place with 4.7% market share.
According to the research, Amazon remained the leading brand with a share of 26.2%, down from 33.7% 2018. Google retained second place with a 20.3% share, also down from 25.9% the previous year. Chinese vendors Baidu, Alibaba and Xiaomi all increased their shares, while Apple pretty much just held its own.The full report from Strategy Analytics can be found here.
Sales in quarter four of 2019 also achieved a new record of 55.7 million units, the highest ever quarterly sales figure. They were driven by strong holiday sales in the U.S. and Europe, as well as a recovery in Google’s smart speaker business following new product introductions, improved components supply and strong promotional activity. Strategy Analytics expects 2020 to be another record year for smart speaker sales, in spite of the near-term impact of disruption to supply and demand caused by the Coronavirus.
