U.S. access to smart speaker devices at 20%

A recent Voicebot.ai report found

47.3 million people in the U.S., or 20% of the adult population, have access to a smart speaker, up from 1% two years ago. The survey found Amazon dominates the market with its Alexa-powered devices, with Alphabet’s Google Home its only meaningful competitor.

Alexa’s strength is supported by the growth of Amazon’s Prime ecosystem, which offers members free shipping, discounts, media content and other perks. Research firm CIRP estimates

63% of Amazon’s U.S. customers are Prime members and that they spend nearly twice as much as non-members annually. Alexa-powered speakers let Prime members order physical products and digital music simply by speaking. Voice shopping could surge from $2 billion today to $40 billion in 2022, according to OC&C Strategy Consultants.

The firm expects the number of homes using smart speakers to jump from 13% currently to 55% in that time. Given Amazon’s lead, Google and Apple — which recently launched the HomePod — could miss out on that growth.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Leo Sun owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon and AAPL. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on AAPL and short January 2020

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