The world’s largest market for smart speakers is not North America but Asia, according to the report by the Omdia Smart Speakers Market Tracker.
Data shows that smart speaker shipments in Asia reached 47 million units in 2019, an increase from 21 million in 2018.
Asia surpassed the North American total of 42 per cent by recording a 46 per cent share of global shipments. With this, the Asian market marked nearly 5 million more speaker shipments that North America before 2019 ended. All these contribute to Asia being crowned as the world’s largest market for smart speakers.
“Voice assistant platforms increasingly are encouraging consumers to access their capabilities via smart speakers located throughout homes—rather than through smartphones,” said Blake Kozak, principal analyst at Omdia.
“This means that smart speakers and voice assistants are beginning to resemble ‘super-apps,’ with the capability to serve as the access point for multiple apps. This feature is proving very alluring to consumers in Asia.”
More than 100 million smart speakers were shipped worldwide in 2019. This is a 41 per cent increase from 72 million in 2018. Shipments may get an additional 36 per cent in 2020.
The global installed base of smart speakers was reportedly at 205 million units in 2019. Of these units, North America accounts for a 52 per cent share. Analysis predicts that the global installed base of smart speakers can surge to 325 million in 2020.
North American brands are striving to transform voice assistants into natural sounds and are focused on privacy.
Displays are also taken into consideration for the surge of smart speakers. North America saw 7.4 million smart speakers delivered in 2019 that incorporated a display. At the Amazon Echo Show, five was reported to represent around 40 per cent of these shipments in 2019. On the other hand, the Google Home Hub represented about 23 per cent.
However, another study reported that smart speakers that come with voice assistants from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple are activating and recording audio clips without the permission of users. Researchers point out that smart speakers accidentally activate as often as 19 times a day while recording captures as much as 43 seconds of audio each time.
