Is Anyone Still Buying Smart Speakers?

Smart speakers are voice-activated devices that respond to spoken commands, play music, answer questions, and control connected home products. Examples include the Amazon Echo and Google Home. These speakers are considered “smart” because they use built-in processors, voice recognition software, and internet connectivity to handle user interactions. Most rely on cloud-based platforms such as Alexa or Google Assistant to provide real-time responses and access to online services. This separates them from traditional wireless or Bluetooth speakers, which play audio but lack voice control or connectivity to a larger digital ecosystem.

The early smart speaker market was dominated by U.S. tech companies. Amazon and Google pushed hard into homes with inexpensive devices, generous promotions, and ecosystem integration. Amazon treated Alexa as a strategic entry point into digital commerce, pouring resources into both hardware and software. However, financial returns were underwhelming, and Alexa is widely reported to have driven billions in operating losses. Meanwhile, Chinese brands like Baidu, Xiaomi, and Alibaba have grown quickly within China by offering competitive pricing and tailoring products to local users. Despite these gains, their influence has remained largely regional.

Global demand for smart speakers is falling. After explosive growth through the late 2010s, the market reached its peak in 2022. According to DATAportl’s latest analysis, nearly one billion units had been shipped by the end of 2024, but shipments continue to decline. By 2030, annual volumes are projected to return to levels not seen since 2017. This suggests not just a slowing product cycle, but a broader shift in consumer attention and company investment away from voice-first devices.

At the heart of the decline is a failure to meet early expectations. The entrenched suppliers, particularly Amazon and Google, have not meaningfully advanced the promise of voice control. Most devices still operate on limited command-based interactions, with little improvement in context awareness or true conversational ability. Perhaps most significantly, the lack of cross-platform integration has been a critical misstep (I’ve talked about this several times). Consumers expected seamless interaction across devices and services, but siloed ecosystems and limited interoperability made the experience feel incomplete. The opportunity to lead a new interface paradigm was there, but it may now be passing to other devices or platforms.

Some industry experts believe that the market may be poised for a comeback, driven by the integration of large language models (LLMs) and the emergence of multimodal AI agents. These new systems could offer more natural interactions and broader functionality, potentially attracting a wider base of users. It is possible that voice regains traction, but perhaps in different form factors that are better suited to advanced AI applications than the standalone smart speaker.

Our latest post on LinkedIn is enlightening.

If you did not get a chance to join in on LinkedIn, we would still love your input. We will combine the results of both surveys and share the full analysis in next week’s update.

Smart speakers surged to global prominence through the late 2010s, led by Amazon and Google, with nearly one billion units shipped by 2024. But the market has been in steady decline since its 2022 peak. The promise of voice as a primary interface fell short, limited by narrow functionality, underwhelming innovation, and a lack of cross-platform integration. Consumers expected seamless, intelligent interactions across ecosystems, what they got was fragmented, command-based tools. While some believe the integration of large language models and multimodal AI could spark renewed interest, that momentum may emerge through new devices, not traditional smart speakers.