In a two-horse race, Apple finishes sixth with its smart speaker

The smart speaker market continues to grow by leaps and bounds, according to the latest data from Strategy Analytics (via Apple Insider). For the fourth quarter of 2018, the three month period that included October through December, global shipments of smart speakers soared 95% year-over-year to 38.5 million units. That quarter alone topped shipments of the device for all of 2017. During 2018, 86.2 million speakers were shipped world-wide.
Apple is handicapped because it sells only one model smart speaker, and at its list price of $349, it is quite expensive. Both Amazon and Google have a range of devices that start as low as $50. And occasionally, both the Amazon Echo Dot and Google Home Mini can be found on sale for as low as $25.
The key for continued growth in the smart speaker market is penetration. Last month, we passed along data from a report that showed only 21% of U.S. adults own a smart speaker. That could indicate that there is more growth ahead for this product.