Google, Amazon Top Smart Speaker Market; Apple HomePod Doesn’t Make List

Google Home — Google’s Home-branded smart speakers sold more units than Amazon’s Echo devices in the first quarter. Reuters/Beck Diefenbach

Google has surpassed Amazon in the smart speaker market. Meanwhile, Apple failed to make it to the list of the biggest players in the said market.

Technology market analyst firm Canalys revealed Wednesday that based on its new research data, Google is now the top player in the smart speaker market after beating Amazon by a huge margin.

Google recorded a significant jump from 19.3 percent market share in last year’s first quarter to having 36.2 percent share in the first quarter of 2018. Amazon, on the other hand, was down from having 79.6 percent share in the January-March period of 2017 to just 27.7 percent in the same period this year.

It’s worth noting that both Google and Amazon have expanded the sales of their Home devices and Echo smart speakers beyond the U.S. market. According to AppleInsider, this has resulted to the companies’ domestic sales accounting for less than 50 percent of their worldwide total. Google recorded a 483 percent growth, while Amazon had 8 percent.

Chinese companies Alibaba and Xiaomi snagged the third and fourth spots on the list. Jack Ma’s company managed to obtain 11.8 percent share in the first quarter, while Xiaomi got 7.0 percent in the same period. Canalys’ report does not name the fifth player. It simply states that all other smart speaker vendors account for 17.3 percent of the market last quarter.

Apple’s HomePod speaker did not make it to the list, but this may have to do with the February release of the product. It also did not help that the Cupertino giant only chose to launch the device in select markets.

Strategy Analytics reported last week that Apple sold 600,000 HomePod units in the first quarter. This means Apple’s smart speaker could have around 6 percent of the market.

Interestingly, Apple could improve its ranking in the smart speaker market soon. There are sources claiming the tech giant is working on a low-cost version of its $349 HomePod. IBTimes learned this past Tuesday that Apple could be releasing the more affordable variant under the Beats brand. Apple has yet to confirm anything though, so it’s best to remain skeptical.