NPR Study Sees Smart Speaker Increase In US

A study conducted between Dec. 26-30, 2018 by NPR and Edison Research has found the voice-activated smart speaker market continues to increase in the U.S.

53M people A18+ in the U.S. (21 percent of the population) now owns at least one smart speaker, and the total number of devices in homes has increased 78 percent year-over-year. According to the nationally-representative telephone survey of 1,000+ persons 18+, the average smart speaker household now features 2.3 devices, up from an average 1.7 devices per household at this time last year.

The new data, from a recurring 2017 study The Smart Audio Report, was presented Monday (Jan. 7) during the CTA Research Summit at CES.

Other key findings from The Smart Audio Report Winter 2018 ownership survey include:

• 52 percent of all smart speaker owners report using their device daily
• 8 percent of people in the U.S. got a smart speaker during the 2018 holiday season, between Black Friday and the end of December 2018
• 14M people in the U.S. got their first smart speaker device in 2018

“The growth in ownership, particularly the increase in devices per household, really speaks to the tremendous utility of voice assistant technology,” said Tom Webster, Sr. VP at Edison Research. “While these devices initially served as audio appliances, they are now becoming integrated into the fabric of everyday life for tens of millions of Americans.”