LONDON, 28 September, 2022 – 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. 

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?”