Amazon, Google, & Bose still rule the Smart Speaker space

According to Acumen Research and Consultancy forecasts, the global smart speaker market is estimated to grow at 19.4 percent CAGR and above from 2021-2028. In the new era, most buyers prefer smart speakers over regular ones, and the reason is obvious. Thanks to the smart assistant functions, you can do more than just listen to music. Moreover, you can manage your smart devices with your voice such as smart lights, fans, ACs, etc. So why choose ordinary when you can get smart.

Smart Speaker – Brand Affinity Index

*All the graphs show the top 5 brands' scores only

Amazon smart speakers are the most popular ones. Google is not far behind, with its Nest and Home series of smart speakers, grabbing the first runner-up spot. We were expecting Apple to be in the top three, but as we all know India is a price-sensitive market, and Apple’s smart speaker range is a bit expensive compared to others, hence it ended up in the fifth spot. Apple didn’t make it to the top five last year. But it is picking up the pace gradually.

Smart Speaker – Spontaneous Brand Awareness

3 4

Respondents were able to recall Amazon spontaneously, but not Google so much– the reason it could not make it in the top five. Sony, JBL, and Apple shared the first runner-up spot with an 87 percent score. Philips (84 percent) became the third runner-up followed by BoAt and Bose with just a one percent margin. Amazon, Google, Bose, Marshall, and Philips, were the top five brands last year. While boAt is comparatively new to the market, its marketing strategy and competitive pricing made it one of the popular names in the audio category.

Smart Speaker – Current Usage

4 4

Every smart speaker player is fighting neck on neck. Though this time we have two winners – Google and Amazon, the competition in the future could be intensive. As you can see, the brands in the top three spots have only one percent difference in their scores, and the story remains the same for other competing players as well.

Smart Speaker  – Future Purchase Consideration

5 5

Amazon is the clear winner here. JBL also has a good grip on the audio industry. Google slipped to the third spot and shared the spot with Sony and Bose. Philips has a good range of speakers too. Apple is in the fifth spot, but it can do better next year as Siri is one of the strongest contenders against Alexa and Google Assistant. Alexa is continually adding new features and enhancing its AI capabilities, so it will be interesting to see who will win more hearts in the future.

Smart Speaker – Overall Brand Satisfaction

6 4

Amazon and Apple both are sharing the top spot, meaning their users are happy with the capabilities they offer. JBL and Google are in the second spot, followed by Bose, Xiaomi, and Sony. Last year also, Amazon was in the first spot followed by Google, but Apple was not there in our top five list. This year, Apple is competing with Amazon, and Google is in the second spot, which means that Alexa and Siri’s smart conversations are liked by their users, while Google Assistant is struggling.

Smart Speaker – Brand Loyalty

7 5

It is quite interesting to see that Apple and Xiaomi both scored high in loyalty, while Google and Amazon once again shared the second spot. JBL is next in the rank followed by Bose and Philips. Last year, however, the graph was completely different, Google was on the top and Amazon in the third spot.

Smart Speaker – Brand Advocacy

8 4

Let’s see which brand’s users are the most loyal and whether they recommend the brand too. We got some truly interesting results here. Despite scoring highly in the loyalty segment, neither Apple nor Google could make it to the top five list. Philips won the advocacy segment; boAt interestingly grabbed the second spot and Xiaomi grabbed the third spot. Amazon came fourth and Bose fifth.

Smart Speaker – Reasons for using current Brands

9 4

Amazon and Google smart speakers have been considered for their brand names and quality of the product; Bose for its brand name and after-sales support/service. Respondents considered Philips for after-sales support/service and Apple for the brand name.

Highlight - Users loved Alexa and Siri’s smart conversation features

By Satya Sundar Mohanty, CyberMedia Research

Ashok Pandey & Soma Tah, PCQuest

  pcquest@cybermedia.co.in