Report: Google Home and Amazon Echo speakers to see shipments surge in 2017

The connected speaker market is still a tiny one, but it may get much bigger in 2017. A new report predicts that we will see a combined total of 24.5 million Google Home and Amazon Echo connected speakers ship in the new year, well above the 6.5 million units that shipped in 2016.

The report comes from VoiceLabs, which offers a voice analytics software product called VoiceInsights. It is is supposed to provide developers data about how consumers use their Amazon Alexa skills and Google Assistant Actions. The company’s new report claims that there is room for both Google Home and Amazon Echo to be “huge business successes”. However, it adds that households will likely buy one connected speaker and stick with that brand. It states:

VoiceLabs surveyed consumers who already own a Google Home or Amazon Echo, and currently only 11% of respondents will also buy a competing device.

The report gives Amazon an edge over Google in selling connected speakers to those consumers, thanks in part to the retailer’s extensive experience in selling third-party hardware and consumer electronics. However, it’s still very early days in this market, and even though Amazon might have the current advantage, there’s no reason why Google cannot compete in this space as well.

It’s also likely that by the end of 2017 we could also see more companies enter this market as well, including Microsoft and Apple,which could take some market share away from both Amazon and Google. It seems clear that this is the year the current connected speaker trend might explode or it might become just another tech fad that didn’t pan out as planned.

Do you think we will see a big surge in connected speaker shipments this year, and will more companies try to compete with Google and Amazon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.