Smart Speaker penetration, which once was on a strong growth path, could be plateauing. Some 36% of Americans ages 12 and up report owning one of the devices, according to the latest annual Infinite Dial report [pdf] from Edison Research, produced in association with Amazon Music, Wondery, and ART19.
The 36% reporting ownership of one of the devices in this year’s report is only marginally up from 35% last year and 33% in 2021. By comparison, penetration grew by 10% points from 2019 to 2021.
Still, the average number of devices owned by Smart Speaker owners has grown. In this latest edition, that average stands at 2.8, up from 2.4 last year. The average Smart Speaker owner now has about 1 more device than in 2018 (average then of 1.7).
Ownership of these devices continues to have some impact on online audio listening habits. While just 7% of the respondent sample cites Amazon Music as the audio brand they use most often, that figure more than doubles to 15% share of respondents who own an Alexa device. Reliance on YouTube Music as an audio brand is also slightly higher among respondents who own a Google Nest device than the overall sample.
It’s worth mentioning that the advent of ChatGPT and advances in conversational AI could have an impact on how people interact with voice assistants.
Meanwhile, plateauing figures for Smart Speakers stand in contrast to some other devices measured for the report. Indeed, in this year’s study 7 in 10 say that they own a Smart TV, up from 62% last year and 61% in 2021. Ownership of bluetooth-enabled wireless headphones (58%, up from 53%) and Smart Watches (24%, up from 20%) have also registered an uptick, and smartphone ownership has grown to 91% from 88% in the prior 2 years.
While these figures suggest that 2022 was a strong year for consumer electronics, the Consumer Technology Association forecasts a dip in consumer electronics sales this year.
For more, check out the Infinite Dial report here [pdf].
About the Data: The 2023 results are based on a January survey of 1,500 people in the US ages 12 and older.
