Amazon controls 70% of digital assistant device market [eMarketer]

Amazon Echo, housing the Alexa intelligent agent

According to a new analysis and forecast from eMarketer, Amazon owns 70 percent of the “Voice-Enabled Speaker Market.” The firm says that more than 35 million people in the US will use one of these stand-alone devices at least monthly in 2017.

More broadly, 60 million in the US will use digital assistants on any device, including smartphones, in 2017, says eMarketer. That’s more than 27 percent of smartphone users. These numbers are probably conservative.

Here’s how eMarketer breaks down market share:

• Amazon Echo: 70.6 percent
• Google Home: 23.8 percent
• Others (Lenovo, LG, Harmon Kardon, Mattel): 5.6 percent

According to eMarketer, those between 25 and 34 represent the heaviest users of these speaker devices.

The 70 percent market share figure for Amazon may underestimate Amazon’s position. Projections from others put Amazon’s market share much closer to 90 percent.

According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, almost 11 million Amazon customers now own an Echo device, with 52 percent of those being the lower-cost Echo Dot. Amazon is reportedly also going to introduce a new Alexa-powered device with a touchscreen.

There are more than 80 million Amazon Prime members, which may be a proxy for Echo’s market opportunity.

Apple is rumored to be working on a stand-alone Siri-powered device. However, simply introducing one doesn’t mean that Apple will succeed. Even at this early stage, it’s late to the party. It will also be difficult for any company to compete with the Echo Dot at the low end of the market.