• by Chuck Martin , May 2, 2018

Amazon continues to lead the market for smart speakers with its Echo line of products, but the online retail giant is losing market share, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast.

This year, 41 million people of any age in the U.S. will use an Amazon Echo once a month or more, accounting for two-third of users of smart speakers, according to eMarketer. Overall, 61 million people will use a smart speaker this year, an increase of almost 40% from last year.

However, by 2020, Amazon’s smart speaker share is projected to fall to 61%, from 67% this year.

Google's Home line of speakers will reach 18 million users this year and will account for 30% of the smart speaker user market by 2020.

“Google Home’s competitively priced Mini drove growth for the brand in the 2017 holiday season,” stated eMarketer forecasting analyst Jaimie Chung. “With Amazon and Google vying for spots in both the smart-home and ecommerce spaces, Google’s pricing has revitalized the artificial intelligence race to dominate the home.”

This year, more Americans will use voice-enabled speakers (61 million) than will use a wearable device (50 million), for the first time, according to eMarketer. The post popular smart speaker activity is listening to audio, according to the research firm.