Amazon leads way as voice assistant, smart home space booms

The adoption of Alexa and Google Assistant will be a key factor behind smart home growth, with 275 million voice assistant devices used to control smart homes by 2023. This is up from an estimated 25 million in 2018.

Juniper Research says that the introduction of routines from both Amazon and Google means that voice assistants are now the most convenient way to combine desired actions in the smart home, creating a more cohesive user experience across the ecosystem.

Amazon’s loss-leading strategy, with hardware products tied to a comprehensive product and service ecosystem, has established a lead in the smart home. Google will remain a distant second in the space, with the latter’s Nest brand incurring a $621 million loss in 2017. Its Google’s AI prowess is undeniable, as demonstrated by ‘Duplex’, although its comparatively poor ecosystem is a negative factor. Furthermore, the introduction of a monetised Alexa skills will incentivise smaller vendors to take an ‘Amazon-first’ approach.