Usage of smart speakers and voice commands in general has increased slightly since the COVID-19 outbreak, with 52% of voice-assistant users saying they use voice tech several times a day or nearly every day, compared to 46% before the outbreak, according to the the 2020 Smart Audio Report, released by NPR and Edison Research.
The report confirms that 77% of US adults have had a change in their typical routine due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and voice-assistant usage has expanded during these disruptions.
Other findings from the research include:
- 36% of US adult smart speaker owners say they are using their device more to listen to music and entertainment since the outbreak while 52% of 18-34-year-olds say the same.
- 35% of US adult smart speaker owners are listening to more news and information since the COVID-19 outbreak, and 50% of those ages 18-34 say the same.
- 46% of smart speaker owners say they use their smartphone voice assistant more since acquiring their smart speaker.
- 59% of smart speaker owners who also use a voice assistant on their smartphone say the tasks they use for each of the devices are mostly different.
- 52% of non-owners of smart speaker who use some type of voice commands say they are likely or very likely to buy a smart speaker in the next six months.
- 34% of all smart speaker non-owners say they are likely or very likely to buy a device in the next six months.
Increased usage of the technology
“With tens of millions of Americans no longer commuting, smart speakers are becoming even more important as a conduit for news and information, and this increased usage and facility with voice assistants will likely increase demand for this technology in vehicles once our commutes resume,” noted Edison Research SVP Tom Webster.
The Smart Audio Report Spring 2020 is based upon a national telephone survey of 1,002 US adults age 18 and older, conducted December 31, 2019 through January 5, 2020, and a national online survey of 1,660 US adults age 18 and older, conducted March 31-April 1, 2020.
Meanwhile, research company Voicebot has disclosed that there were over 20 million new smart speaker owners in 2019, raising the installed base of users to 34.4% of US adults, or 87.7 million adults, up from 26.2% in 2018 and less than 20% in 2018.
With 53% of the total smart speaker market, Amazon remained the market leader in January 2020, but the share of its Alexa device dropped from 61.1% in the same month of 2019 and 71.9% in January 2018. Google’s share has grown from 18.4% in January 2018 to 30.9% in 2020. Sonos's share also grew from 2.2% in January 2019 to 4.7% this January.
A new digital interactive endpoint
Streaming music remained the leading activity for smart speaker owners, with 88.7% saying they have ever tried it, while 73.6% do stream music monthly and 39.8% daily.
"There is little doubt that smart speakers have been the most vital new consumer electronic device segment over the past five years," noted the company."Smart speakers are also important because they represent a new interactive digital endpoint in the home that now provides access to over one-third of US adults. This digital endpoint is not only available to market share leaders such as Amazon and Google, but also to third-party voice app developers."
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