Amazon's Alexa voice assistant software captured 88 percent of the global intelligent
home speaker market in the last quarter of 2016, according to Strategy Analytics.
On this episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence talks with Recode's Kara Swisher and The Verge's Lauren Goode about the
evolving home speaker market and how Sonos is contending with competitors Amazon, Google and Apple.
Further, Google this fall launched the Google Home and its companion ecosystem, hoping to jump into the voice - activated
smart home speaker market, which Amazon currently dominates with its Echo product line.
Amazon currently has 70 % of
the home speaker market while Google has 23.8 %, according to research firm eMarketer.
Apple finally entered
the home speaker market on Monday with the debut of a new Amazon Echo - rival.
When it comes to
the home speaker market, Microsoft jumped into the game quite late and has to compete with other products which have been in the market for quite some time.
«The explosion of
the home speaker market has the potential to change the way our audiences consume news,» said Rob McCracken, Scripps» director of digital solutions.
The company is said to be upgrading Echo for two reasons: to capitalize on the device's success, and as early preparation to «fend off competition» from Google Home and Apple's rumored entry into the smart
home speaker market (via Bloomberg).
For Apple, its iPhone and Beats brand awareness is already huge in both the mobile and headphone spaces, and its recent expansion into the smart
home speaker market is only going to improve this profile as a leading audio company further.
And who knows, in time, Google may command a decent share of the high - end mobile, PC, and
home speaker markets.
After years of Google and Amazon duking it out over the smart
home speaker market, Apple finally joined the party this month with the launch of its HomePod.
The gadget essentially becomes a smart speaker, which makes one to wonder what else is Apple planning for
the home speaker market.
The smart
home speaker market has seen a lot of competition within the past few years and the latest entrant will be a familiar name to smartphone users.
Samsung also reportedly expressed concerns over its ability to make a dent in
the home speaker market, thanks to this late start and strong products from other competitors.
When the HomePod is finally released, it will be Apple's very first entry in the already growing smart
home speaker market.
When Google announced the Pixel 2 smartphones, it also announced its response to Amazon's growing dominance in the smart
home speaker market.