Google shipped half a million of its Home smart speakers in the final quarter of 2016, according to analyst firm Edison Investment Research.
The company published its estimate in a note warning that Google needs to do more to catch up with (let alone overtake) Amazon in the voice-assistant market, thanks to the success of the latter’s Echo speakers.
“0.5m units are disappointing as Google Home has a much cleverer assistant and the device is $50 cheaper,” wrote analyst Richard Windsor in a note for clients.
“That being said, Amazon shipped somewhere between 0.75m and 1m Alexa devices during Q4 16 giving Google a good piece of the market. Google has to act quickly as Amazon is on the brink of becoming the industry standard for controlling smart home devices as, at CES, everyone was integrating with Echo with Google Home and Apple HomeKit barely present… We estimate that only 2% of Amazon’s users who are aware of the Echo have bought one, meaning that Google still has a chance but it will have do even more than it has done as of today.”
As that last stat shows, it’s still early days in this market.
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