Smart speaker adoption on the increase in the Republic

Nearly one in ten Irish households now have a smart speaker such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant with adoption of such devices rising sharply in recent months.

New figures show 9.6 per cent of households here have bought a smart speaker, with growth rates having jumped by 28 per cent during the first half of 2019 versus the same period a year ago.

Strategy Analytics, which compiled the figures, said while adoption here is increasing, it lags behind the UK, where one in five households have a smart speaker. Germany is also ahead of the Republic with an 11 per cent adoption rate while France is behind at 7.4 per cent.

The research company forecast that adoption will increase across all the countries it measures by the end of 2019.

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A previous estimate from the company published earlier this year predicted that the Republic will soon have more homes with smart speakers than without.

The State is one of eight countries expected to reach the 50 per cent adoption threshold within the next four years, along with the UK, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Germany and France.

The Republic is forecast to to surpass the 50 per cent penetration rate in the second quarter of 2023. This places it behind the US, which is expected to be the first country in the world to reach the target in late 2020, and the UK, which will likely get there a year later.