Smart speakers could spark another game revolution

Not since the advent of the smartphone has a tech device been adopted as quickly as the smart speaker. In the U.S, ownership of smart speakers has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 47.9%. Even more impressive, the global install base is expected to increase by 82.4% to 207.9 million by the end of 2019.

In real terms, 41% of homes in North America now own at least one voice-activated speaker, almost on par with the ownership of games consoles which can be found in 48% of homes. This is incredible when you consider that Amazon, which controls 70% of the market, only released the Echo three years ago. In contrast, games consoles have been around for almost 40 years.