Almost 20% of the U.S. population owns a smart speaker

Google Home range
Google Home range (Image credit: Phil Nickinson / Android Central)

Over the past 3 years, smart speakers have blown up as one of the biggest markets in the consumer tech space. Amazon, Google, Apple, and others are all racing to get as much market share as possible, and it looks like these efforts are working.

Voicebot recently teamed up with PullString and RAIN to see just how many people are actually buying/using smart speakers, and after interviewing 1,057 adults across the United States, it was found that 19.7% of them said they own a smart speaker.

Assuming that 19.7% translates to the entire United States, that would mean 47.3 million of the country's 252 million population own a smart speaker. Of those interviewed, it was also found that 42.2% of smart speaker owners are female and 57.8% are male.

Per RAIN's VP of Emerging Experiences, Greg Hedges –

Consumers continue to flock toward voice technology in staggering rates, which demonstrates not only the lightning in a bottle that these smart speakers (Echo/Dot and Google Home/Mini) have generated, but ultimately showcase Voice's impact as a larger behavioral movement.

In addition to those two main findings above, Voicebot was also able to conclude the following:

  • 65.7% of people own just one smart speaker while 7% own four or more
  • The living room and kitchen are the most popular locations for smart speakers (45.9% and 41.4%, respectively)
  • Amazon has 18.4% market share, Google has 18.4%, and the remaining 9.7% goes to Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana-powered speakers that are made by other companies.
  • iPhone owners are 22% more likely to own a smart speaker but 30% less likely to have one made by Google

I personally own a Google Home and Home Mini, and I honestly don't know how I got by without one. I use these gadgets every single day for setting timers, listening to music, making calls, and so much more, and it really is fascinating to see so many people already eager to adopt this new technology.

Do you own a smart speaker? If yes, which ons(s) did you choose and why? Sound off in the comments below!

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.