The smart audio devices market is projected to hit a value of $10 billion by revenue in 2022 with the increasing number of audio device manufacturers who are incorporating artificial intelligence-powered voice assistant solutions to their offerings, according to a new study by Juniper Research. That represents a tremendous growth from the current estimate of $2.5 billion in revenue this year for smart audio devices, and the market is forecast to reach a 300 percent growth over the next half decade as more brands are expected to rise to challenge existing tier-one smart speaker brands like the Amazon Echo, Google Home, Harman Kardon Invoke, Sonos One, and Sony.
Juniper also acknowledges the Amazon Echo Dot as the leading smart speaker in the market in terms of sales, though it also forecasts the growth of the smart audio device to drag over the next five years as more smart speakers proliferate the market. The research firm also recommends that tech companies like Amazon respond to this growing trend early while only a few players currently dominate the smart audio device market because it expects that time will come when this segment will see a heavy influx of more audio brands. While most tech companies rely on digital assistants to build up their smart speaker market presence, the audio device manufacturers aim to enrich their current and future devices with features brought about by these AI-powered solutions including Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, with the goal of keeping their products relevant to consumers as the years pass by. Last August, Google Assistant launched on a few other speakers built by Anker, Panasonic, and Mobvoi. It was also previously reported that Samsung Electronics and its subsidiary Harman International Industries were set to release an AI-powered speaker next year to compete in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market.
This variation in the design of smart speakers is expected to have a significant impact on the prices of these audio devices in terms of how varying price tags will influence the market share of individual products. For instance, Juniper Research projects that smart speakers worth $200 will account for 40 percent of the market in terms of revenue while representing only 16 percent of total shipments worldwide during the forecast period.