The Internet of Things (IoT) industry is growing in a slow, but steady manner, and as more connected consumer electronics enter the market, people are gradually growing accustomed to the idea of telling their smartphone to turn on the lights and asking their speaker to put on some John Lennon. Speaking of smart speakers, the market analysis firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) just published its latest study and according to the details, Amazon has sold more than five million Amazon Echo units in the two years since the IoT gadget hit the market.
More specifically, CIRP estimates that to this day, Amazon has managed to sell 5.1 million of its smart speaker to customers in the United States. The Amazon Echo originally debuted in late 2014 and was initially available for purchase exclusively for Amazon Prime members. As of mid-2015, this connected speaker officially hit the US market and became available to everyone in the country. Following that release, Amazon’s customers became much more aware of the Echo. In the last 12 months, their awareness of this product almost doubled, and it currently stands at approximately 70%. Not surprisingly, that increased exposure led to better sales as CIRP estimate that Amazon sold around 2 million units of its connected speaker during the first three quarters of this year alone.
For added perspective, industry analysts are estimating that the Echo sold 4.4 million units in its first full year of being available, following the mentioned official launch of the device in mid-2015. Interestingly enough, the Echo Tap and Echo Dot have accounted for over one-third of all Echo sales in the last six months. Overall, the global adoption rate of the Echo is likely even higher as this study hasn’t accounted for customers in the UK and Germany, where Amazon’s connected speaker became available last month. Equally as interesting, despite the fact that the Echo is primarily a speaker, CIRP’s findings suggest that less than half of its owners are using it solely for that purpose, as a significant portion of Amazon’s customers are interested in the device’s additional Alexa-powered features. Last but not least, it’s worth noting that these estimates were based on surveys of 3,500 Amazon customers in the US. While that sample was designed to be representative, it still isn’t huge, so actual numbers may substantially differ from CIRP’s findings.