This year, for the first time, more Americans will use a voice-enabled speaker than will use a wearable device. Overall, 61.1 million individuals of any age will use a smart speaker at least once per month. That’s up nearly 40% over 2017, and higher than the 45.4 million users eMarketer predicted in April 2017. Meanwhile, there will be 50.1 million wearable users in the US this year, up almost 12% over last year.
What are users doing with their smart speakers? The most popular activity is listening to audio, such as music, podcasts and digital radio. A close second is inquiries—users asking their speaker a question. Additionally, smaller groups of users are using their devices for shopping (browsing, price comparing and adding to carts), controlling their smart-home devices and buying items. Not surprisingly, those buying are mostly Amazon Echo users utilizing their Amazon Prime accounts.