Amazon Is Losing Ground in a Market It Pioneered

Could Amazon’s Fourth-Quarter Results Beat Analysts’ Expectations? (Continued from Prior Part) ## Amazon’s headstart on Google in the smart speaker market Strategy Analytics indicates that although Amazon (AMZN) has remained the world’s top smart speaker company, its market share has diminished. Amazon shipped 7.2 million smart speaker units in the third quarter (ended in September) and exited the quarter with 31.6% of the global speaker market, almost half the 64.8% market share it held a year prior. Amazon helped create the smart speaker market. It released its first Echo smart speaker device in 2016, two years ahead of Google’s (GOOGL) Home smart speaker line and four years ahead of Apple’s HomePod. ## The market is crowding rapidly The smart speaker market is heating up rapidly—Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), Yandex (YNDX), and more recently, Facebook (FB), are also pursuing revenue in the market. Alibaba and Baidu captured 9.5% and 8.4% of the global smart speaker market in the third quarter, respectively, benefiting from strong smart speaker demand in their home market, China. Yandex’s Station smart speaker went on sale in July, and Facebook released its display-equipped Portal smart speaker in November. When Amazon releases its fourth-quarter results, investors will likely be paying attention to what the company’s leadership might say about smart speaker competition and regaining ground in the market. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: * Part 1 - Could Amazon’s Fourth-Quarter Revenue Beat Analysts’ Expectation? * Part 2 - How Amazon’s Wage Hikes Could Affect Its Bottom Line * Part 4 - How Amazon Unlocked Its Advertising Potential