More Than 20% of U.S. Broadband Households Plan to Buy a Voice-Controlled Smart Speaker With Personal Assistant

22% of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a voice-controlled smart speaker with a personal assistant in 2017. Consumer interest in voice innovations continues to grow as the voice-first ecosystem expands into new categories, products, and interactions. The international research firm will explore this key IoT market trend when it hosts the 12th-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit: IoT and the Smart Home on January 9 at CES® 2018 in Las Vegas.

“It’s still early days for the voice-first market, but rapid early adoption of products like smart speakers with personal assistants, at 12% of U.S. broadband households by year-end 2016, demonstrates the need and demand for a natural and easy-to-use interface,” said Dina Abdelrazik, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “Natural language processing for voice technologies happen in the cloud, so real-time updates can be made quickly once consumer realities unfold. Multiple channels, from custom to direct-to-consumer retail, will focus on expanding the voice-enabled UX in 2018.”

“As voice computing becomes more capable and useful, consumers naturally want it throughout their home,” said Aaron Emigh, CEO, Brilliant. “In the near future, voice computing will be built right into the walls of the house.”

“Sensory is seeing the demand for smart speakers explode,” said Todd Mozer, CEO, Sensory. “Our customer base has more than doubled in the last year primarily driven by smart speakers all over the world.”