In terms of the competitive landscape for smart speakers, Amazon is still a dominant force while its closest challenger is Google
In its later report, leading data and analytics company GlobalData has predicted that the global installed base for smart speakers will hit 100 million early next year, before surpassing the 200 million mark at some point in 2020.
Nearly every leading technology company is either already producing a smart speaker or developing one, with Facebook the latest to enter the fray (launching its Portal device this month), stated the report titled ‘Smart Speakers – Thematic Research’.
The appetite for smart speakers is also not limited by geography, with China in particular emerging as a major marketplace, it said.
Ed Thomas, Principal Analyst for Technology Thematic Research at GlobalData, asserted, “It is only four years since Amazon unveiled the Echo, the first wireless speaker to incorporate a voice-activated virtual assistant. Initial reactions were muted but the device, and the Alexa virtual assistant it contained, quickly became a phenomenon, with the level of demand catching even Amazon by surprise.”
The report highlighted that smart speakers give companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, and Alibaba access to a vast amount of highly valuable user data.
Thomas added, “For tech companies serious about competing in the virtual assistant sector, a smart speaker is becoming a necessity, hence the recent entry of Apple and Facebook into the market and the expected arrival of Samsung and Microsoft over the next year or so.”
In terms of the competitive landscape for smart speakers, GlobalData said in the report, Amazon is still a dominant force.
Its closest challenger is Google while Xiaomi is also performing well.
With big names like Samsung and Microsoft expected to launch smart speakers in the next year or so, Thomas said, the competitive landscape will continue to fluctuate.
“It is likely that we will see two distinct markets emerge: the cheap, impulse-buy end of the spectrum, used by vendors to boost their ecosystems; and the more expensive, luxury end, where greater focus is placed on sound quality and aesthetics. This is the area of the market at which Apple has aimed the HomePod and early indications are that this is where Samsung’s Galaxy Home will also look to make an impact,” Thomas concluded.
