(Mirror Daily, United States) – Smart speakers were some of the most popular items sold this last holiday season, meaning that as many as 39 million Americans currently own one. This marks a 128 percent jump from last year’s levels.
According to a NPR/ Edison Research report, America is starting to feel more comfortable about the controversial technology as tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple are releasing more and more advanced products.
Apple announced its first smart speaker, the HomePod, earlier this month, so experts expect the market to grow even more as Apple product owners will want one. According to another report, 44 percent of Americans said they’d like to buy a smart speaker by the end of the year.
The voice-controlled devices are convenient since they allow users to remotely search for info on the web, play their favorite songs, make phone calls, control the IoT-connected home, and much more.
Amazon’s Echo Dot the Most Popular Smart Speaker
NPR researchers also found that smart speakers were extremely popular from Black Friday to the end of December last year. As many as 7 percent of Americans bought a smart speaker during that period, with Alexa’s Echo being the most popular.
Google and Amazon have both lowered prices for the past season, but customers were easily persuaded to put their cash in an Echo or a Google Home product. Amazon’s best-selling device was the Echo Dot, which had a sizable discount from $50 to $30 in the period before Christmas. The Dot was deemed the best-selling item in its category during the holiday season.
When asked why they would buy a smart speaker, one-third of respondents said it helps them to spend less time on their tablets or smartphones. An extra 44% said that they use the digital assistant on their mobile phones more now that they have gotten used to voice command their smart speakers.
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