Google Home Mini was the best-selling speaker worldwide in Q2 2018

Google Home Mini was the best-selling smart speaker, while Amazon sold the most number of devices worldwide in the second quarter of 2018, according to a report by market research firm Strategy Analytics.
 
The US$50 Google Home Mini shipped 2.3 million units between April and June, grabbing 20% of the global market share. The rival Amazon Echo Dot, meanwhile, sold 2.2 units and took 18% of the market share.

Although Amazon’s Echo Dot lost the entry-level smart speaker sales battle to Google Home Mini, Amazon’s speakers won in the total sales number.
 
Amazon Echo shipped 1.4 million units worldwide in the second quarter with a 12% market share, ranking in the third place. Alibaba’s Tmall Genie (7%) and Google Home (7%) followed behind.

A total of 11.7 million smart speaker units were sold in the past quarter, up from 3.9 million in the same quarter a year ago.
 
With a 6% market share, Apple’s HomePod didn’t make it to the top five; however, it was the market leader in terms of revenue, says Strategy Analytics. Apple’s US$349 smart speaker took 16% of the smart speaker revenues worldwide, ranking in the first place. In the high-end speaker market where devices cost more than US$200, Apple’s HomePod had 70% of the market share.
 
The Google Home Mini and Amazon Echo Dot, although making up 38% of the global shipments in the second quarter, only took 17% of total revenues.
 
“The number of smart speaker models available worldwide has grown significantly over the last twelve months as vendors look to capitalize on the explosive market growth,” says David Mercer, vice president at Strategy Analytics, in a statement.
 
“Heavyweight brands such as Samsung and Bose are in the process of launching their first models, adding further credibility to the segment and giving consumers more options at the premium-end of the market.”
 
The global smart speaker market will worth US$30 billion by 2024, Global Market Insights predicted.