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Thursday, January 9, 2020

Report: 60M U.S. Adults 18+ Own a Smart Speaker

The latest survey from The Smart Audio Report, conducted after the December 2019 holidays, confirms continued growth in the smart speaker market with 60M people in the U.S. A18+ (24% of the population) owning at least one smart speaker device.

The average smart speaker household now features 2.6 devices, up from 2.3 devices per household at the same time last year. The new data was presented today during the 2019 VOICE Live event at CES.

The nationally-conducted telephone survey of 1,000+ persons 18+ also shows 54% of the U.S. population have ever used some type of voice-command technology, such as voice assistants on smartphones, smart speakers and other devices. Of those who use voice assistants, 24% say they use the technology daily.

“Today there are more ways than ever for audiences to engage with audio content. That’s why we’ve partnered with Edison Research for three years to create an annual study on the growth of smart speakers,” says NPR CEO John Lansing. “This latest report again shows the steady growth in smart speakers and the substantial use of voice activation across platforms.  NPR sees these increases reflected in the continuing growth of listening to NPR radio streams and podcasts on smart speakers.We’re eager to see that growth continue.”


“Smart speakers are remarkable in that once people become accustomed to voice assistants, they purchase multiple devices in order to surround themselves with the technology,” says Tom Webster, Senior Vice President at Edison Research. “On average, those who have one now have 2.6 devices in their home, which is sure to increase the amount of time they spend with audio content.”

The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research, which debuted in June 2017, is a recurring study on trends in smart speaker ownership and user behavior.

A lucrative opportunity for consumer targeting, smart speakers are also becoming critical touchpoints for reaching shoppers. eMarketer estimates that 11.8 percent, or 34.7 million, consumers will use a smart speaker to make purchases this year, growing to 38 million by 2021.

Digital audio has also provided advertisers with new ways to reach target audiences as the average US adult will spend more time listening to digital audio than listening to radio in 2020. The IAB estimated US audio ad spending totaled $2.25 billion in 2018, up from 22.9 percent in 2017.

To reach these consumers, advertisers are investing more of their ad dollars into streaming audio platforms such as Spotify and Pandora. Last month, Pandora launched mobile interactive voice ads that listeners can talk back to with a simple “yes or no” in order to reduce friction with the listener experience. Pandora’s voice ads will fill part of the gap that exists in audio ad measurement.

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