A new study on smart speakers from research firm IHS Markit doesn’t add many surprises: 65% of respondents use these devices for listening to music, asking questions and checking the weather, versus just 6% for controlling other devices in the home, for example.
Meanwhile, 40% of respondents own an Amazon smart speaker; 23% a Google Home; and 20% at least one of each – suggesting that early adopters aren’t wedded to a single manufacturer just yet.
How lucrative was the market for virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) apps in 2017? According to research firm IHS Markit, it was worth $3.2bn, representing 72% growth from 2016.
Of that, $2bn came from apps with AR features – a category that includes the Pokémon Go mobile game.
The report also has some figures on the VR headsets market, with IHS Markit claiming that by the end of 2017 there were 28m VR headsets in people’s hands (well, on their faces) compared to 18m at the end of 2016.
With recorded-music revenues on the increase again, the comparison to the games industry may be a less sensitive issue.
Some new figures are out for the latter sector though, and they show continued growth.
Research firm IHS Markit whose games estimates are respected within that industry, claims that the global games market grew 5.6% to $21.6bn in 2016.
That’s games software – once console hardware sales are introduced, the market totalled $34.7bn in 2016, down 2.5% year-on-year thanks to a $2.3bn drop in console sales.
