25+ Smart Speaker Statistics For 2023 (Usage, Revenue, Trends, and Facts)

Here are the topics we’ll cover:

• Smart speaker usage
• Adoption rate
• Demographics
• Trending smart speaker companies

Smart Speaker Statistics

1. Over 60 million people in the US own 157 million smart speakers

(Source: MarketingLand)

60 million is about one in five people in the US, so almost 20% of the population there owns a smart speaker, according to NPR and Edison Research’s latest Smart Audio Report.

Interestingly, there are over 157 million smart speakers in US households, which suggests many users have more than one. On average, every person owning a smart speaker had 2.6 devices in 2019.

2. The smart speaker market is predicted to reach over $19 billion by 2027

(Source: ResearchandMarkets)

When it comes to the countries adopting smart speakers, China, the US, and Germany are the leaders.

China’s smart speaker usage is growing at 30.8% CAGR and is expected to generate $3.2 billion by 2027. In the first quarter of 2019, smart speaker shipments in China increased 500%.

In the US, the smart speakers market generated $825.4 million in 2020. In the same year, smart speaker market revenue was estimated at $15.6 billion

3. In 2019, over 39% of American smart speaker owners used their devices daily

(Source: Statista)

But what did they use them for?

84% of the respondents to a US survey said they used it for streaming music.

4. Compared to the year before, smart speaker ownerships rose 40% in 2019

(Source: Mindstream)

To illustrate just how quickly consumers are adopting these devices, consider this:

• Smart speakers account for about 69% of voice assistant users.
• April 2019 research by Microsoft found 41% of smart speaker owners own two or more speakers.

It seems these devices aren’t just a passing fad. Voice control and voice search may be the next phase in the evolution of human-machine interaction.

5. 72% of all smart speaker owners use them in their daily routines

(Source: Wordstream)

People use their smart speakers more often than ever before:

• 41% of smart speaker owners say that talking to the device feels like talking to another person or a friend.
• 35.8% of young people use smart speakers at least once a month.
• In 2019, 39.3% of young people used smart speakers.

The findings are based on a survey of 1,600 people in the US conducted by Peerless Insights and Google.

6. Over 100 million Alexa speakers were sold in 2019

(Source: Techcrunch)

By 2019 the company had already sold over 100 million Amazon Echo devices in the short span of five years.

Smart Speaker User Demographics

7. In 2019, there were 85.5 million smart speaker users in China

(Source: Emarketer)

The number of smart speaker users in China surpasses that in the US. But the penetration rate is higher in the US—26%, while in China, it’s 10%.

With the launch of the Amazon Echo in November 2014, the US had many people purchasing smart speakers, resulting in a higher speaker adoption rate. JD.com’s DingDong came to China two years later, in 2016, which gave the US a head start.

8. Are smart speakers widely used in France, Germany, or the UK?

(Source: Business Insider)

How much are smart speakers used in these European countries? Here are some numbers from Business Insider:

• UK—22.4% of internet users
• Germany—17.2% of internet users
• France—14.0% of internet users

Smart speakers from Amazon, Apple, and Google were first sold in the UK, and consumers have shown a strong interest in using smart speakers to control other smart home devices.

9. Smart speaker ownership varies little by age

(Source: Aumcore)

Edison Research and NPR show us that perhaps more so than any technology device, smart speaker ownership has been embraced by Americans of all generations. Ownership rates for these devices are nearly equivalent among people aged 25, 35, 45, or 55.

10. Smart speakers owned more often by men

(Source: BusinessInsider)

Are smart speakers used more often by men or women? In 2018, according to Voicebot.ai, 57.8% of smart speaker users were men.

11. Hispanic and Black consumers are more interested in smart speakers

(Source: Voicebot.ai)

Voicebot did not attempt to determine the racial demographics of smart speaker owners, but Nielsen’s survey sheds some light on the product category. Below is the percentage of consumers from each demographic who expressed interest in these devices:

• Black—61%
• Hispanic—58%
• White—36%

Smart Speaker Stats by Company

12. In 2018, Amazon Echo and Alexa controlled 69% of the smart speaker market in the US

(Source: MarketingLand)

In January 2018 Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released a report on the smart speaker market.

Let’s see the results:

• Over 50% of the sales were for Echo Dot and Google Home Mini.
• According to the CIRP, in January 2018, Amazon Echo and Alexa devices controlled 69% of the US smart speaker market.
• The rest belonged to Google Home, with a small percentage going to Apple’s HomePod.

In 2019, another CIRP study found almost the same numbers. Amazon was still the leader, with over 70% of the market.

13. In 2018, Google Home sold 12.5 million units

(Source: Statista)

According to Statista, by 2025, Google will sell about 140 million Google smart speakers worldwide.

14. In 2018, Google Home brought in $3.4 billion in sales.

(Source: TechCrunch)

Google Home’s revenue is growing. This is evident from RBC Capital Markets reports that compare the cash flow through the years. In 2018, Google Home earned $3.4 billion, which by the end of 2021 is expected to rise to $8.2 billion.

15. With 2.3 million shipments in 2018, Google Mini is among the leading devices in the global smart speaker market.

(Source: Policy Advice)

Home Mini is widely popular, contributing to the constant smart speaker market growth.

Although Amazon’s Echo/Alexa still leads the market, this small personal assistant speaker accounted for one in every five smart speaker shipments in 2018.

16. In 2019, the Amazon Echo smart speakers owned 53% of the market, whereas Google Nest Home accounted for 31%.

(Source: Voicebot.ai)

This data is from a 2019 US survey of smart speaker consumers with over 1,000 respondents.

Additionally, smart speaker purchases rose about 24% in January of 2019.

17. Amazon or Google?

(Source: Statista)

How many Alexas have been sold? What about Google home? Right now, people more often turn to Alexa. According to estimates from Statista, Alexa had a 62% market share in 2017, while Google had 25%.

Voice Search Statistics

18. 27% of the global population use voice search

(Source: Review42)

Rather than type your query on a keyboard, why not just say it?

According to a Google voice search survey, 27% of internet users worldwide use voice searches. 111 million people in the US use voice assistants.

19. In 2019, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant were the most popular digital assistants worldwide

(Source: Statista)

Which digital assistants are you using? According to a survey by Statista, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant were the most popular digital assistants worldwide as of 2019. Here are some statistics about the usage:

• Both Siri and Google Assistant were used by 36% of survey respondents
• Amazon Alexa was used by 25% of respondents
• Microsoft Cortana was used by 19% of respondents

In 2019 Amazon’s Echo had 10% penetration in the US, while Google’s Home had 4%, and Microsoft’s Cortana had 2%.

20. In 2017, Google’s global share of the search market was 77%, while Bing was at 8%

(Source: Protect)

Occasionally stories come out about Bing achieving impressive user growth, but never quite enough to suggest a significant threat to Google’s totemic stature.

21. In 2020, 50% of all searches were voice-activated

(Source: Review 42 / Wordstream)

How many people use voice activation? Let’s check out the stats:

• 35.6 million people in the US used a voice-activated assistant at least once a month in 2017, according to eMarketer—an increase of 128.9% from the year before
• Voice search systems are said to have been a part of 72 percent of people’s everyday routines.
• Every month there are one billion searches done by voice

How many people use smart speakers?

22. At least one voice-activated smart speaker is owned by 53 million Americans, but are they polite to it?

(Source: CNBC)

Are you polite to Alexa and Siri? According to a survey by Adobe, millions use their devices to ask fun questions, search online, play games, or shop. There are a few interesting numbers from the Pew Research Center:

• More than half of smart speaker owners in the United States say they say “please” to their AI assistants at least once a day.
• One-in-five (19%) says “please” frequently
• 62% of women reportedly say “please” at least sometimes
• 45% of men say “please” at least sometimes

The survey didn’t ask respondents why they said “please” to these devices, so we can only speculate about the reason. The broader issue is certainly interesting: do you even NEED to be polite to AI assistants?

23. Most common voice search terms

(Source: DBS website)

What do people search for using voice search? Let’s find out. According to an Adobe Analytics survey, people most often voice search for:

• Asking for music (70%)
• Weather forecast (64%)
• Questions (53%)
• Online search (47%)
• News (46%)
• Asking directions (34%)

Furthermore, a 2018 study from BrightLocal found that 58% of consumers used voice search to find a local business in 2017, and 46% of people using voice search daily are searching for local businesses.

24. In 2018, 40.7 million people in the US used an Amazon Echo at least once a month, while 18 million used Google Home.

(Source: eMarketer)

While Amazon Echo dominates the voice-enabled speaker market, its share is slowly shrinking as Google Home, and smaller rivals start to grow. Let’s check out some facts about smart speaker usage and compare data from 2018 and 2020:

• In 2018, 40.7 million people in the US used an Amazon Echo at least once a month, two-thirds of all smart speaker users.
• The number two player Google Home had 18 million users in 2018
• In 2018 Amazon had 66.6% of the users
• In 2018 Google had 29.5% of the users
• In 2018 8.3% belonged to other smart speaker companies
• In 2020 Amazon had 60.8% of the users
• In 2020 Google had 32.9% of the users
• In 2020 14.0% belonged to other smart speaker companies

Challenges of Smart Speakers

25. Do people care how much of their data is collected by smart speakers?

(Source: Pew Research)

Americans are split on this question.

In more than one way the smart home assistants help us in our everyday lives. With them, we can control other gadgets in our house by voice commands.

But this has its downsides. As smart speakers become more ubiquitous, many Americans are concerned that the government or private corporations can use these devices’ personal information.

According to a Pew Research survey from 2019, 54% of smart speaker owners in the US claim they are a little worried that their personal data is heard and possibly collected by voice-activated devices.

It’s clear that most Americans don’t feel comfortable disclosing their private conversations without permission.
Google and Amazon did not have an easy time with allegations about having employees listen to conversations that speaker owners have. Although this has been taken care of since speakers are never off the hook for such things.

26. What is the collected data used for?

(Source: Amazon )

Here is a list of ways companies use data from smart speakers:

• Public safety
• Health or fitness tracking
• Mental health/disease tracking
• Terrorist attack prevention
• Crime-solving

49% of Americans think it’s unacceptable for companies to share user data with law enforcement agencies. Still, the same number thinks it’s permissible for the government to collect data to prevent terrorist attacks.

Conclusion

All in all, in 2020, Amazon, Google and Apple are all making great smart speakers. The competition between these tech giants only pushes them to keep getting better and better.

Smart speakers are still a relatively new technology around the world. Many people are adjusting to having them around the house, especially because of the voice activation and listening abilities they possess. In any case, most products on the market are affordable, and they are bound to become even more ubiquitous.

FAQ

1. What is a smart speaker?

A smart speaker is a device controlled with voice commands. To use it, a person can ask a question or give it a command.

2. What are the privacy concerns?

Smart speakers have microphones that are always listening in case you need something. This can be an unsettling concept for people worried about privacy, but companies say they’re not recording when not used.