Chinese smart speakers surge to second spot, actual usage remains mystery

Quarterly figures claim that Amazon is still in the lead for smart speaker shipments, hitting 6.6mn units in the past three months, according to Canalys. Google has fallen from second place, as Baidu leapt ahead to 4.5mn units, edging out Google’s 4.3mn. However, reports from China suggest that actual usage of these speakers remains very low. If accurate, this lack of interaction highlights the importance of the ecosystem to the experience. China’s total quarterly shipments reached 12.6mn, up by more than 100% in the quarter, and now more than double the 6.1mn units that were shipped in the US, which declined 2.4% in the quarter. Fourth place went to Alibaba, on 4.1mn units, up around 39% in a year from…