Massive Reversal: Google Home Sales Explode 483% To Beat Amazon Echo For Smart Speaker Crown

In the first quarter of 2017, Amazon owned almost 80% of the smart speaker market, while Google sipped up just 19.3%. But in the same quarter this year, Google sold more than a third of all smart speakers, while Amazon's share plummeted to 27.7%. And it's in the fastest-growing consumer technology market: nine million devices sold in Q1 2018 versus 2.9 million last year. "Google took the top spot, beating Amazon for the first time, shipping 3.2 million of its Google Home and Home Mini devices, against the 2.5 million Echo devices shipped by Amazon," says Canalys in a new report. Dipping market share is not unusual when a market matures. The initial innovator is confronted with competition on all sides -- Google, Alibaba, Xiaomi, and Apple all have smart speaker solutions, and more are popping up daily.