The move is said to be the latest step in the company's efforts to challenge Amazon's Alexa with its Google Assistant that's currently far behind its main rival in terms
of smart speaker market share, according to some estimates.
Amazon Echo is has a
strong smart speaker market share lead in the U.S., but Google Assistant and Apple Siri users are still likely to outnumber Alexa users for some time.
But perhaps the biggest draw is the ability to compete with Amazon in the voice shopping space, where it has exclusive access to consumers on any Alexa - enabled devices as well as the
largest smart speaker market share.
It may have captured more than 30 % of all smart speaker sales in 2017 which helped it rise to 18.4 %
U.S. smart speaker market share in terms of total users.
However, no one disputes that the $ 49 Amazon Echo Dot — which is often discounted by $ 5, $ 10 and even $ 15 — has helped Amazon
maintain smart speaker market share and drive higher than expected unit sales.
Granted, even though Google Home is eating into
Echo smart speaker market share, Amazon appears to be continuing to outsell its rival by a significant margin.
Analyst Tom Tien at Taiwan - based TrendForce estimates that Amazon and Google commanded 87.2 % of
global smart speaker market share in 2017 followed by Alibaba and Xiaomi at 4 % and 3 % respectively.
The price point below $ 50 that occasionally dipped down to $ 35 helped to dramatically increase unit sales and solidify Amazon's
smart speaker market share lead.
Analyst Tom Tien at Taiwan - based TrendForce estimates that Amazon and Google commanded 87.2 % of global
smart speaker market share in 2017 followed by Alibaba and Xiaomi at 4 % and 3 % respectively.
How does this compare to other analyst estimates for 2017
smart speaker market share?
The more striking estimate by TrendForce is that Amazon's
smart speaker market share will fall to 51 % in 2018 while Google's will rise to 21.6 %, Alibaba to 6.3 %, Xiaomi to 5.1 % and others to 7.4 %.
Within the non-Amazon, non-Google category, TrendForce places Alibaba with 4 %
smart speaker market share compared to Strategy Analytics at 1.62 %.
It is in a fierce battle with Amazon for
smart speaker market share.
Apple certainly has some catching up to do: An eMarketer forecast last month predicted that Amazon is expected to command roughly 70 percent of
the smart speaker market share this year, with Google Home taking much of the rest of the market.
The more striking estimate by TrendForce is that Amazon's
smart speaker market share will fall to 51 % in 2018 while Google's will rise to 21.6 %, Alibaba to 6.3 %, Xiaomi to 5.1 % and others to 7.4 %.
Within the non-Amazon, non-Google category, TrendForce places Alibaba with 4 %
smart speaker market share compared to Strategy Analytics at 1.62 %.
Analyst Tom Tien at Taiwan - based TrendForce estimates that Amazon and Google commanded 87.2 % of global
smart speaker market share in..
How does this compare to other analyst estimates for 2017
smart speaker market share?
Today's infographic, from Raconteur, sheds light on the fight for
smart speaker market share, how early adopters are using the devices, and the growing array of voice - enabled devices currently on the market.
It is in a fierce battle with Amazon for
smart speaker market share.
Amazon's strategy has definitely paid off in the US, as it the clear leader when it comes to
smart speaker market share.
You can learn more about
the smart speaker market share breakdown along with data on more than twenty other related topics in the Voicebot Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption report here.
Part of the battle for
smart speaker market share is keeping the developer community happy.