Apple's HomePod claims six percent of the smart speaker market, as Google closes gap with ...
New data says that Apple is now the fourth smart speaker manufacturer as measured in sales worldwide with about 700,000 HomePods sold in the quarter, about six months after its launch.
According to the latest quarterly data on the smart speaker market from research firm Strategy Analytics, Amazon remains the top brand in smart speakers worldwide. But its lead is shrinking, as Google, Apple and others gain. SA found that Apple shipped around 700,000 speakers worldwide during the quarter, up from none the year before, indicating that Apple has found yet growth category.
The report finds that Amazon notched 4.8 million smart speaker shipments in Q2, placing its global market share at 41 percent. And while Amazon sold many more speakers in the rapidly growing category, competition has caused its market share to drop from 75.8 percent a year ago.
Google is second with 3.2 million speakers shipped for 27.6 percent, followed by Alibaba (about 800,000 shipments, and 7 percent) and Apple. Neither Alibaba, Apple, or the fifth-place brand, JD.com, registered on the survey during Q2 of last year.
"Apple has established an early lead in the premium smart speaker market, benefiting from a fiercely loyal fan base and strong momentum behind its Apple Music service," David Mercer, Vice President at Strategy Analytics, said as part of the report. "However, we expect the higher end smart speaker market to grow and become much more competitive moving forwards as vendors such as Samsung with its Galaxy Home speaker look to capitalize on the growing acceptance of voice as an established control mechanism."
The HomePod debuted in February, and is competing with its rivals with a higher price point, and having launched much later than the speakers from Amazon or Google.
In May, another research firm, Canalys, had Google actually leading Amazon in global smart speaker market share for the first quarter, with Alibaba third. Apple at that time had not yet shown up in the survey.
A Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report earlier this month had Apple with a domestic install base of around 3 million, or also about 6 percent of the U.S. market.
According to the latest quarterly data on the smart speaker market from research firm Strategy Analytics, Amazon remains the top brand in smart speakers worldwide. But its lead is shrinking, as Google, Apple and others gain. SA found that Apple shipped around 700,000 speakers worldwide during the quarter, up from none the year before, indicating that Apple has found yet growth category.
The report finds that Amazon notched 4.8 million smart speaker shipments in Q2, placing its global market share at 41 percent. And while Amazon sold many more speakers in the rapidly growing category, competition has caused its market share to drop from 75.8 percent a year ago.
Google is second with 3.2 million speakers shipped for 27.6 percent, followed by Alibaba (about 800,000 shipments, and 7 percent) and Apple. Neither Alibaba, Apple, or the fifth-place brand, JD.com, registered on the survey during Q2 of last year.
"Apple has established an early lead in the premium smart speaker market, benefiting from a fiercely loyal fan base and strong momentum behind its Apple Music service," David Mercer, Vice President at Strategy Analytics, said as part of the report. "However, we expect the higher end smart speaker market to grow and become much more competitive moving forwards as vendors such as Samsung with its Galaxy Home speaker look to capitalize on the growing acceptance of voice as an established control mechanism."
The HomePod debuted in February, and is competing with its rivals with a higher price point, and having launched much later than the speakers from Amazon or Google.
In May, another research firm, Canalys, had Google actually leading Amazon in global smart speaker market share for the first quarter, with Alibaba third. Apple at that time had not yet shown up in the survey.
A Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report earlier this month had Apple with a domestic install base of around 3 million, or also about 6 percent of the U.S. market.
Comments
AirPods = huge success
HomePods = not (yet) a large success
I don't mean this judgmentally, just as an observation. And "success" is subjective; you could argue that HomePods have been very successful with their (a) target audience and (b) primary use case [audio quality].
The numbers were impressive considering.
The best thing about the HomePod is it will force Apple to get serious about Siri...
Unfortunately, the HomePods get to where they can't hear me over themselves sometimes - even at low volumes. I have to unplug and replug them to restore proper operation. I've had this issue since release and it's existed through all software updates.
The other devices might as well be called smart microphones. They are basically just voice-controlled home assistants - the speaker is basically only for feedback.
Problem is when people have a not so great first experience it makes others more likely to wait (if they buy at all). I mean think of how many people don’t use Siri or Apple Maps because of bad experiences they’ve had. So even if the product improves these customers don’t know because they’ve stopped using the service.
Repairing the thing out of warranty costs almost as much as buying a new one, which means it is another throwaway item from supposedly “green minded” Apple.
It is tied to the low quality rebranded Beats streaming service and Apple’s inferior Siri technology. The device still looks like a roll of toilet paper in fishnet panty hose.
Add to all that the simple fact that it sounds like a cheap boom box. I listened to it in 2 different Apple Stores and it sounded like a cheap Wal-Mart Boom Box from the 1980s.
You can buy an Amazon Echo Dot and connect it to your existing equipment and get far better functionality and better sound for less money.
Dud.
Not sure if sarcastic or stupid. You can't tell anymore, some people seriously repeat cliches.
Discontinuing the Edition was one of the dumbest Apple moves in the past decade!