Research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) has issued its latest estimates on the smart-speaker market in the US. It claims the number of speakers in use grew from 37m at the end of 2017 to 66m at the end of 2018, including 13m bought in the fourth quarter of the year.
The relative market-shares of the main players haven’t changed much: Amazon accounts for 70% of that US install base, compared to Google’s 24% and Apple’s 6%, if CIRP’s numbers are correct (although we can’t help wondering whether Sonos and other manufacturers are not being counted, given that round 100% share of the leading three speaker brands).
CIRP also says that 35% of American smart-speaker owners now have more than one device, up from 18% a year ago. “Holiday shoppers helped the smart speaker market take off again,” said CIRP partner Josh Lowitz in a statement, warning that Apple “likely won’t gain significant share until it offers an entry-level product closer to Echo Dot and Home Mini”.
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