Smart speakers: 43% of German users can’t imagine life without one, says Strategy Analytics

New study from Strategy Analytics’ Smart Speakers research service. The research shows that 7% of German residents now claim to use a smart speaker, and 43% of those users agree that they “can’t imagine living without” one.

August 30, 2018 - Munich (BUSINESS WIRE): Smart speakers, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, are fast becoming an invaluable tool for many Germans, according to a new study from Strategy Analytics’ Smart Speakers research service. The research shows that 7% of German residents now claim to use a smart speaker, and 43% of those users agree that they “can’t imagine living without” one. 61% say that smart speakers have “greatly improved the way I use technology at home,” and 68% agree that “smart speakers are much more useful than I thought they would be.” The results suggest that smart speakers are set to become widely established in German homes in the next few years. The online survey was carried out with 1000 users of smart speakers in Germany in July/August 2018.

Other key findings from the research include:

• German users are already purchasing multiple smart speakers to be used in different parts of the home
• The average number of smart speakers owned by each household is 1.96.
• The most popular location for smart speakers in Germany is the living room (71%), followed by the kitchen (29%) and the bedroom (27%)
• The most popular uses of smart speakers are listening to music from a streaming music service and getting weather information – 46% of users do this at least once a day
• 85% of German users are satisfied with their smart speaker overall. The least satisfying aspects of smart speakers are their security and their ability to answer any sort of question

David Watkins, Director, Smart Speakers at Strategy Analytics says:

“Smart speakers may have come to the German market later than some other countries but this research suggests that they are likely to become just as popular. Application developers can now begin to work with these new platforms safe in the knowledge that they are quickly becoming established and that the number of users across the country will continue to grow rapidly.”

Strategy Analytics research suggests that shipments of smart speakers in Germany will reach 6.1M units in 2018, an increase of 185%. In Q2 2018 Amazon had a market share of 58%, followed by Google with 31%.

Strategy Analytics will be attending this week’s IFA in Berlin, and will be available to discuss these findings as well as other strategic and consumer issues related to the emergence of the smart connected home.