The global smart speaker market is surging to record levels, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, which frames its recent report as a “market recovery.”
The data are from Q2 of this year, compared to Q2 2020. In the table below, six smart speaker brands are compared by number of shipped units (a seventh line exists for all other market players).
We observe that Apple was the biggest gainer in percentage terms, with a whopping 178% increase in shipments year-over-year. We also note that in unit numbers, Apple is second to last with 3.8-million shipments. Amazon’s Alexa platform leads in units shipped with 10.6 million for the quarter, for a 63% YoY growth.
Only Xiaomi — the Beijing-based consumer electronics company — experienced a year-over-year percentage drop in shipments (-21%).
Strategy Analytics notes that the market was challenged by supply chain issues and component shortages. Despite pandemic-related headwinds, the 34.8% overall growth represents the highest growth margin ever for Q2, according to Strategy Analytics research.
“As consumers settle into their new day-to-day routines, smart speaker and smart display companies are equally settled in with the go-to-market strategies they adapted to 2020 and returning to familiar device development and selling cycles,” said Jack Narcotta, Senior Industry Analyst at Strategy Analytics. “While growth for the full year in 2021 will be somewhat inflated due to 2020’s slowdown and the market has not fully returned to normal, it is clear the first steps towards that goal are being taken.”
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