44% of global installed base of Intelligent Home Speakers will use Google’s AI Assistant by 2022

Milton Keynes, UK - April 12, 2017: The surge in demand for voice-activated speakers is sparking a new battle between the world’s major technology giants for control of the future computing platform in the connected home.

Strategy Analytics latest report “Intelligent Home Speakers Spark New Battle for OS Supremacy” concludes that while Amazon’s Alexa holds the dominant position today, Google’s Assistant will be able to leverage its advantages in search, machine learning and ecosystem scale to become the leading platform.

David Watkins, Director of Connected Home at Strategy Analytics, commented “Amazon’s Alexa is at the forefront of the voice-first computing revolution and the company will be hoping that its current base of Echo users will stay loyal to the platform having integrated it into their daily routines. It is this ecosystem ‘stickiness’ that all AI assistant providers are looking to achieve and a reason why scale both in terms of application and service support and compatible devices will be a focal point for all would be challengers to Amazon’s crown”.

Figure 1: Global Intelligent Home Speaker Installed Base by OS

Bill Ablondi, Director of Strategy Analytics Smart Home Strategies research program, noted “Google Assistant has the potential to dominate the Intelligent Home Speaker market in the long term assuming it can capitalize on its clear strengths in search and machine learning. Although the path towards monetization of a voice-first platform seems less obvious for Google than for its major rivals, maintaining its position as the primary access point to the online world will be of paramount importance to the search giant”.