Omdia: Smart speaker shipments in 2Q22 exceeded 33M

The US smart speaker market continued to contract during 2Q22, posting a decline of 14% year-over-year (YoY) according to Omdia’s latest quarterly smart speaker tracker. Although Amazon-branded smart speakers grew 33% during the quarter relative to last year, other brands like Google and Apple were down 31% and 57%, respectively. Given the rapid growth in the US smart speaker market over the past few years,  the penetration rate for smart speakers in the US went from 36% in 2017 to just 52% as of 2021. indicating that brands are less active relative to previous years.

USA Smart Speaker Market by Platform 2Q22

As of April 2022, more than 35 smart speaker models have been discontinued. 46 (63%) of brands haven’t released a new smart speaker since 2019, and 34 (46%) of brands haven’t released a new smart speaker since 2018.

Teik Chuan Goh, Senior Research Analyst, Omdia said: “With the number of smart speaker releases fading, Omdia believes new use cases will be introduced to the market, now that there is a sizable installed base. This high penetration rate could reduce demand for replacement speakers while promoting new opportunities like senior care, healthcare monitoring and security features/services.”

In 2Q22, France, Germany and the UK, recorded 3.6 million smart speaker shipments, with Amazon representing about 80% of shipments. For South Korea, China and Australia represented 21 million smart speaker shipments. Alibaba was the market leader representing 36% of shipments during the quarter. Baidu was second, followed by Xiaomi and Huawei.

Goh concludes: “The next step for smart speakers will be far more difficult and controversial – trying to make an assistant more active in the home without invading privacy or becoming a nuisance. In short, a more proactive and intelligent digital assistant is up next for smart speakers, but will it be enough to reenergize the stalling industry?”

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