The smart speaker market rose 55.4 percent to 26.1 million units in the second quarter of 2019, according to a Canalys research report released on Monday.
Amazon, the #1 smart speaker player, shipped 6.6 million units of Echo smart speakers in Q2 2019.
Baidu has shipped 4.5 million units in Q2 2019, after it re-entered the Chinese market in pact with Xiaodu devices in Q2 of last year. Baidu became the second largest vendor and overtook Google. US-based Google shipped 4.3 million.
The size of the China’s smart speaker market was 12.6 million units, more than twice as large as the US market which stands at 6.1 million units.
The US market for smart speakers fell 2.4 percent to 6.1 million units.
“Aggressive marketing and go-to-market campaigns built strong momentum for Baidu in China. The vendor stood out as a key driver of smart displays, to achieve 45 percent smart display product mix in its Q2 shipments,” said Canalys Research Analyst Cynthia Chen.
Amazon and Google are focused on growing their business outside the US, said Canalys Senior Analyst Jason Low.
Google’s transition to the Nest branding while pivoting to smart displays proved to be a challenge. Google urgently requires a revamped non-display smart speaker portfolio to rekindle consumer interest, as well as a robust marketing strategy.
