Smart Speaker Ownership Reaches 60 Million U.S. Adults

New data from the latest installment of The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research confirms that smart speaker adoption continues to grow in the U.S. with 60M adults A18+ (24% of the population) now owning a smart speaker. And with spoken word audio listening up 20% from 2014, cutting into time spent with music, it's clear the audio landscape is changing dramatically – driven by technology advancements and content preferences alike.
 
"This latest report again shows the steady growth in smart speakers and the substantial use of voice activation across platforms," says NPR CEO John Lansing. "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."
 
Released earlier this month at CES, The Smart Audio Report Winter 2019 includes updates on smart speaker ownership and usage. Key findings from the survey include:

- 54% of the U.S. population have ever used voice-command technology​​​​
- Of those who use voice commands, 24% use voice commands nearly every day
- The average smart speaker household now features 2.6 devices, up from 2.3 devices per household at the same time last year

The Smart Audio Report Winter 2019 is now available to download here.
 
The Smart Audio Report is a public resource designed to help inform product design, content and sponsorship for NPR, and people across sectors whose work is impacted by the rise of voice activation.
www.npr.org/smartaudio