Smart speakers are clearly the current trend in tech at the moment, and CES 2018 which was last week proved just that as we saw many audio companies release products with digital assistants built into them. This is why it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that according to a study by NPR and Edison Research (via Engadget), one in six Americans own such a device.
According to the study, the rise in popularity of smart speakers is astounding, where it has increased by 128% from the previous year, meaning that there are more than twice the amount of people buying smart speakers today. The report also claims that 7% of Americans bought at least one smart speaker between Black Friday and the end of 2017, with 4% apparently owning such a device for the first time.
In terms of popularity of speakers, unsurprisingly Amazon is at the top with about 11% of Americans owning an Echo device, while 4% own a Google Home, which could possibly be due to the fact that Google Home arrived later than the Echo did. It will be interesting to see how Apple will fare once its HomePod has been released.
As for usage, the study found that 66% plan to entertain others through streaming music, asking questions, and playing games, while 64% plan to use their speakers for smart home control. That being said the study was conducted with 1,010 participants which hardly speaks for the entire country, but it can be used as a rough indication of where we might be headed in the future.