Voice-controlled speaker market predicted to double as Apple reportedly works on its plans

As Apple is believed to be working on its own ‘Siri speaker‘ product, research firm eMarketer has predicted that the U.S. market for voice-controlled speakers will double this year.

The number of active U.S. users will more than double for the devices this year, to 35.6 million, eMarketer said.

Reuters reports that in the market currently dominated by Amazon and Google, there is currently a clear leader …

Amazon.com Inc is dominating the nascent market for voice-controlled speakers, research firm eMarketer said on Monday. The e-commerce giant’s Amazon Echo and Echo Dot devices will claim a 70.6 percent share of the U.S. market this year […] That puts it far ahead of Alphabet Inc’s Google Home, a similar gadget that has a 23.8 percent share, and less successful offerings from other tech companies.

However, Google’s share is expected to grow as its brand awareness is increasing at a faster rate than that experienced by Amazon.

Apple is of course expected to compete in the premium end of the market, rather than chasing market share initially.

We first heard reports of the company working on a connected speaker almost a year ago, when it was suggested it might feature facial recognition cameras. The most recent report suggests that Apple very well could announce it at WWDC.

While a Siri speaker likely only makes sense for some households, Apple would come to the market with a number of advantages over existing products. These include multi-language support, HomeKit and app integration through a Siri SDK.