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Technology companies are betting that the future of personal computing will be guided by the sound of your voice.

If they are right, this early stage of smart speaker adoption will have a huge impact on future profits. Change smartphone brand is relatively simple, but change a whole ecosystem of voice assistant? It's not so easy.

Voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa will transform the behavior inside the house. Central to this behavior is a smart speaker, which serves as a hub for a connected way of life.

– Andy Chambers, Vice President of Connected Home, Assurant

Today's infographic gives an insight into the booming market of smart speakers and how the major players in the industry are competing for early critical market shares.

Towards the majority

The adoption of smart speakers really began to gain ground among consumers in 2018, when the percentage of US adults owning such a device has crossed the 20% mark. Today, the rate of adoption in the United States is about 25% and in 2022 it should more than double to 55%.

In just one year, China's global share of the smart speaker market has grown from almost zero to 30 percent, and the domestic smart home market has been valued at more than $ 7 billion. Companies like Baidu and Alibaba are fighting for their share of the domestic market.

Starting from Amazon

It has been almost five years since Amazon announced Alexa and Echo to the world, marking the beginning of the era of the smart speaker.

Amazon's attempt to end up in the smartphone market was still topical and the initial response to a listening device inside the home was mixed. That said, Amazon's huge integrated customer base and its two-year lead were sufficient to capture a significant share of the smart speaker market. Now, other brands are catching up.

Here is an overview of the market share of smart speakers in the United States by device:

Business	Device	Voice Assistant	Market share
Amazon	Echo point	Alexa	31.4%
Amazon	Echo or More	Alexa	23.2%
Google	Home	Google Assistant	11.2%
Google	Home Mini	Google Assistant	11.2%
Amazon	Echo Spot	Alexa	3.5%
Amazon	Echo show	Alexa	3.0%
Apple	AccueilPod	Siri	2.7%
His bone	A	Alexa	2.2%
Google	Home Hub	Google Assistant	1.2%
Google	Home Max	Google Assistant	0.2%

Source

The fight is heating up

Businesses are responding in different ways to Amazon's market dominance.

Apple recently lowered the price of its $ 299 HomePod smart speaker, a rare price cut for a company used to queuing people to buy its products. Unlike its competitors, Apple can not use the device as a "loss manager" for advertising or e-commerce. HomePod is positioning itself as a more upscale product, but the price will be a stumbling block for many.

Google, on the other hand, takes a radically different approach. The company has launched Google Home Mini as a cost-effective entry point for consumers wanting to try a voice-activated device.

Google is also associated with Spotify to offer Home Minis as a free promotion to Spotify Premium customers. The premium user base of Spotify is nearly 90 million, so even a fraction of users accept the free offer, a massive influx of Google's smart speakers will hit the market.

Over the last year, more than 10% of its market share has been reduced by competitors, and Google accounted for about half of that loss.

And after? It's hard to say

Given the promise of future profits on connected homes, it's hard to say how long companies will take to maneuver. One thing is clear though, the global smart speaker market is still at the heart of an important growth cycle and we are only seeing the beginning of what is possible with voice-activated devices.