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Amazon Echo dominates smart speaker market

Google Home usage expected to rise in 2019

The Amazon Echo currently dominates the smart speaker market, according to eMarketer’s inaugural forecast on smart speaker usage in the UK.

The number of people in the UK using a smart speaker reached 9.5 million people in 2018, up 98.6 per cent over 2017. Of these, more than two-thirds (68 per cent) will use an Amazon Echo, compared to 26.2 per cent using Google Home.

eMarketer found that smart speaker usage in the UK will grow another 31.6 per cent in 2019 to 12.6 million people. However, Amazon’s share will decrease to 63.8 per cent, while Google’s share will increase to 29.5 per cent.

“Early adopters tend to be open-minded about brands, usually picking whichever speaker is first available in stores,” said eMarketer forecasting analyst Jaimie Chung. “Amazon got to the UK before Google, and usage reflects this.

“Market shares will continue to shift as smart speaker users learn the nuances of the different voice assistants. Each assistant works with a different set of smart-home devices, music subscription services, video players, etc. So as users adopt more of these, they will choose their assistant accordingly. We’re even beginning to see some crossover with Apple Music coming to the Echo,” added Chung.