The global smart speaker market grew by 55.4% in Q2 of 2019 according to a new report from Canalys, with the Chinese Baidu replacing Google to become the number 2 smart speaker.
 
Amazon maintained its worldwide lead, shipping 6.6 million Echo’s, while Baidu, despite only serving the Chinese market, shipped 4.5 million units to reach a total of 26.1 million units.
 
China is now the biggest growing consumer market for smart speakers with 12.6 million units shipped in the last quarter, more than double the 6.1 million shipped to the US which represents a 2.4% decline.

Canalys research Analyst, Cynthia Chen, says, “Aggressive marketing and go-to-the market campaigns built strong momentum for Baidu in China. The vendor stood out as a key driver of smart displays, to achieve 45% smart display product mix in  its Q2 shipments.”
 
The slight weakness in the US market has resulted from both Google and Amazon focussing on growing their business outside the US.
 
Google is also rethinking its non-display smart speaker portfolio in an effort to rekindle consumer interest.