According to a recent analysis by Strategy Analytics, the HomePods sold by Apple in the first quarter of 2018 would be 600,000 – about 6% of the market – compared to the 4 million smart speakers sold by Amazon in the same period.
If the estimates were to prove accurate, Google and Alibaba would confirm themselves second and third respectively in the standings while Apple would become the fourth largest brand of intelligent speakers worldwide after the launch of HomePod, which took place in February 2018.
David Watkins, Director of Strategy Analytics, said that “Amazon and Google accounted for a predominant 70% share of global smart speaker shipments in the first quarter of 2018, although their combined share decreased compared to the 84% recorded in last quarter of 2017 “. This, in part, is due to the strong growth of the Chinese market of smart speakers, a market in which Amazon and Google are currently absent. Alibaba and Xiaomi are therefore leading the way in China and their strength in the domestic market alone is proving sufficient to push them into the global top five.
David Mercer, vice president of Strategy Analytics, added:
Further strong growth in sales of smart speakers confirms our view that this new market is not just a straw fire. Today’s intelligent loudspeakers are by no means a finished article, but have captured the consumer’s imagination and we will see a rapid evolution in design, functionality and associated use cases in the coming years. We are clearly heading for a moment, in a not too distant future, where the voice will become a standard mode of technological interaction along with established approaches such as keyboard, mouse and touchscreen.
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