Report: Smart Speaker Devices in Homes Climb 78% YOY

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The number of smart speaker devices in homes were up 78% Year-over-Year, according to the Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research which was presented last week at Consumer Electronics Show. It was no surprise that voice-activated technology was prominently featured at CES as 21% of people in the U.S. 18+ now own a Smart Speaker, or around 53 million people. There were 14 million new smart speaker owners in 2018 and Deloitte Global is forecasting the smart speaker market to reach $7 billion in 2019.

In the 2018 holiday season, 8% of people in the U.S. got a Smart Speaker, according to the Smart Audio Report. Of those who own smart speakers, 24% are now using one every day, while 18% are using it every day. In January, 2016, 62% were aware of smart speakers, climbing to 77% in December, 2018.

Top Voice Trends & Takeaways, CES 2019:

"CES 2019 was jam-packed with announcements from the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony, and Vizio, many of which shared a theme: support for Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa," wrote VentureBeat.

"Although we are now just a couple of years into the development of voice and smart speaker technology, a duopoly has already emerged. An entire cottage industry of third-party products has blossomed around (Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant)," according to Ad Age.

Business Insider said, "Once confined to smart speakers and smartphones, assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant are increasingly sprouting up in more diverse settings. One such setting is inside of cars, and last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), it became clear that the car is the next major arena for voice assistants."

"Voice-enabled products are also, finally, enabling smart homes to become a reality as consumers grow comfortable issuing commands to devices at home. A slew of manufacturers have debuted smart cameras, microwaves, door looks and more. LifeDoor, for example, will close interior doors to block smoke and heat when signaled by a smoke detector." - CES 2019: How voice, 5G and health tech stole the show," wrote Campaign.