I recently gave a presentation to the Connected World Forum highlighting some of the key findings from our new survey of early smart speaker adopters. The presentation is free to download here.

We've researched many new consumer technologies over the past 30+ years but the response to smart speakers is one of the most upbeat we have seen. Users are overwhelmingly positive towards them and satisfaction rates are nearly 90%. Voice interaction is now becoming the preferred alternative to touchscreens and keyboards, smart speakers have made life easier, and half of users say they can't now imagine life without one.

While Amazon and Google currently dominate, brand loyalty is only around a third of existing owners. People are clearly ready to consider alternative brands, assuming they meet their high expectations for quality and compatibility. Bose, Samsung and Sonos are best positioned to benefit.

The impact on media consumption is significant. Half of users say they spend more time listening to music and radio, and nearly a third are using their smart speaker to control their smart TV or video streaming device.

Detailed country reports have now been published to our clients. We welcome any comments or suggestions for future research.

David Mercer