Data from Strategy Analytics show that smart speaker shipments in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden reached 900,000 in 2019. That figure is up sharply from shipments of only about 200,000 in 2018. These figures indicate impressive growth and smart speaker interest in countries that collectively claim only about 20 million in population. Strategy Analytics estimates the household installed base for smart speakers these Nordic countries is about 6%. Finland and Iceland were not included in the analysis since none of the leading smart speaker makers have offerings with language localization for these countries. Google Home (a.k.a Google Nest) dominates smart speaker market share in the Nordic countries accounting for over 80% of all devices shipped according to David Watkins, director of connected home devices at Strategy Analytics.

Smart speakers continue to sell like hotcakes. That's according to Strategy Analytics, which today reported that in the fourth quarter of 2018, shipments of AI-imbued speakers grew 95 percent from 22.6 million units in Q3 to 38.5 million units -- more than the entire 2017 total. It brought the year-end tally to 86.2 million units. The massive fourth-quarter leap isn't too surprising -- a report released by Adobe during the Consumer Electronics Show in January last year found that nearly 76 percent of smart speaker sales occur during the holiday season. Still, it's reassuring evidence of growth in a consumer sector that, unlike the slowing smartphone market, is nowhere near the point of oversaturation.