A study that was conducted by IHS Markit found that only a handful of consumers that have a smart speaker actually use that speaker for controlling their smart home. Whether that’s controlling smart lights a thermostat, or something else. While nearly 65-percent of respondents to the survey used their smart speaker for asking questions, checking the weather and such. The survey did also find that those that own an Alexa-enabled speaker use it to control their smartphone more than a Google Home, with a difference of around 5-percent. This is likely because of Amazon’s marketing Alexa to be able to control these devices. IHS Markit also found that around 43-percent of respondents have an Amazon Alexa device, with 23-percent owning a Google Home device and around 20-percent owning both an Alexa and Google Assistant device.
There are nearly 900 smart home device makers around the world, which account for over 4,100 different connected devices at the start of the year, according to IHS Market. While smartphones and hubs are usually how consumers interact with their smart home devices, that will soon change, with smart speakers taking over that role. Though, IHS Markit has found that not to be the case just yet. This is likely due to the fact that a lot of people may not even know that their smart speaker is able to do that. Many likely know that you can ask Google Assistant or Alexa to start playing music, or ask it questions, but it may not know about the ability to turn off their lights using their voice and the smart speaker.
The smart home industry is still fairly new, but these smart speakers are looking to be the glue that holds the market together. Essentially being there for the consumer to use to control their smart home. That’s a push that Amazon has been doing for a few years now, offering up a slew of Alexa-enabled speakers and even opening Alexa up to third-parties. Google has begun doing this with the Google Assistant as well, and has caught up with the market share of Alexa, especially when it comes to compatible smart home devices.
