New Data Shows Amazon Still Rules Home Speaker Market

In Internet of Things (IoT) news this week, data from Slice Intelligence has found that while Amazon continues to dominate the home speaker market, Google is struggling to get a foothold.

According to The Information, one reason for the dominance could be because Amazon has more smart technology products in a more affordable price range than the competition, such as Google’s $129 Home speaker. In fact, Amazon has one better with the cheapest version of its speaker, the $49 Dot. Both smart home devices by the retail giant include the virtual assistant Amazon Alexa.

Since September 2016, Amazon’s Echo, which retails at $179, passed the Dot’s market share in only two months. Its mid-range device, the $129 Tap, hasn’t made much of an impact, but neither has Google’s Home speaker, which has lost market share since it launched last October.

This most recent market share data from May shows Amazon Echo at 21.6 percent, while the Amazon Dot was at 18.2 percent, Sonos at 15.1 percent, Google Home at 3.2 percent and Amazon Tap at 0.9 percent.

Sonos speakers continue to sell well, doubling through the beginning of this year, but will face more competition when Apple’s latest smart technology device, the Siri-enabled HomePod, launches in December with hopes of winning over fans of Amazon Alexa and her slew of smart home devices.

Smart home speakers and virtual assistants have grown increasingly popular since their introduction into the Internet of Things space. A research study by Visa and PYMNTS.com, “How We Will Pay,” found that 75 percent of all consumers own something other than a smartphone, computer or laptop, and nearly as many own a voice-activated IoT devices, such as an Amazon Echo speaker or a Google Home Assistant (14 percent) as own a smart watch (15 percent), even though smart watches have been in the market almost twice as long.