Amazon has sold 3 million Echo speakers, research firm
says
Originally published April 6, 2016 at 11:56 am Updated
April 6, 2016 at 6:44 pm
The Echo speaker has
given Amazon a big role in the emerging field of home automation.
(Uncredited/The Associated Press)
The figure, based on a
survey of 2,000 U.S. customers by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners,
signals that the device and its Alexa personal assistant have struck a chord
with the public.
By
Seattle Times business
reporter
A research firm estimates
Amazon.com has sold 3 million Echo voice-controlled home speakers, and that
close to half of U.S. Amazon customers are aware of the product.
The figure, based on a
survey of 2,000 U.S. customers by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners
(CIRP), signals that Echo, a cylindrical device that’s animated by an
artificially intelligent personal assistant dubbed Alexa, has struck a chord
with the public.
The device, which sells
for $180, also has given Amazon a big role in the emerging field of home
automation, as many people use it to control thermostats or lights that work off
Wi-Fi.
It’s a big opportunity
Amazon seeks to exploit. The company Tuesday opened up Alexa to all developers seeking to make smart-home devices
compatible with the platform.
“Amazon Echo launched well, defining a new
category in a crowded marketplace,” CIRP co-founder Mike Levin said in a
statement.
Launched in late 2014,
the Echo slowly picked up speed as word spread about its uncanny abilities —
from answering questions to turning on the living-room lights. It was the star
of Amazon’s first Super Bowl ad, featuring Alec Baldwin, and it
has outsold all other home audio speakers on Amazon’s website.
Recently, Amazon launched
an Alexa-powered portable speaker, dubbed the Tap, and a miniature version of the Echo,
known as the Echo Dot.
CIRP says awareness of
the product among Amazon customers rose from 20 percent in March to 47 percent
toward the end of the year. Amazon sold about 1 million of these devices during
the holiday season, CIRP estimates.
About 40 percent of those
who own an Echo use it for information. The device can tell the weather, read
the news or answer simple queries such as “Who’s the president of the United
States?”
More than a third use it
as an audio speaker for music, and nearly a fifth employ it as a control hub for
other devices connected to a home Wi-Fi.
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