It’s Google 1-0 Amazon in the European Smart Home market

Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was the leading smart home vendor in Europe in the first quarter of 2019, trumping other leading players such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Samsung, a new report has revealed.

According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Smart Home Device Tracker, Google products enjoyed the highest market share of 16.8% in Europe, compared to 15.2% in the year-over period.  About 3.57 million smart home products were shipped to Europe during this period.

Google is followed by Samsung, Amazon, LG Electronics and Sony (see image). Notably, for all these vendors, market share in the first quarter declined from the year-over period.

Smart speakers were the second biggest product segment in the smart home market in Q1, trailing video entertainment devices such as smart TVs and digital media adapters. And this is where Google scores best. Google Home had a higher market share of 45.1%, compared to Amazon Echo, which had a 41.8% share.  

IDC senior research analyst Antonio Arantes said, “Google continues to expand to new countries and support new native languages at a faster pace than Amazon. This is also contributing to strengthening its position in voice assistant platforms.”

READ: Chinese smartphone makers shine in Europe; Apple, Samsung lose ground

Arantes added that Amazon’s supply issues, including the Echo Dot becoming unavailable in some markets, helped bolster Google’s growth.

The European smart home market as a whole expanded about  24% in the first quarter of this year, with shipping of approximately 21.3 million units. The shipments are expected to touch 108.8 million units by the end of this year. By 2023, shipments are projected to touch 183.9 million units, primarily driven by video entertainment and smart speakers.

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