• by Chuck Martin , May 10, 2019

TVs, smartphones and laptops retain the lead in U.S. household tech ownership, but smart speaker ownership has grown nearly 100% in a year, according to a new Consumer Technology Association (CTA) study.

Almost one-third (31%) of U.S. homes now own a smart speaker, up from 8% three years ago.

The three screen devices are in 95% of households, with smartphones in 91% of U.S. homes, based on the CTA’s annual consumer technology ownership study.

Smart appliances are owned by 17% of households, led by smart light bulbs thermostats, home security cameras and robotic vacuums.

CTA projects that smart home devices will see the largest gains in household adoption next year with first-time owners making up the largest proportion of prospective buyers, with plans to buy smart door locks, smart doorbells and smart home hubs for the first time.

“Americans are embracing AI tech in the home at unprecedented levels," states Steve Koenig, vice president of research, CTA. "The dramatic rise in household ownership of intelligent devices like smart speakers shows American consumers endorse the benefits and convenience of artificial intelligence and voice recognition to help them with everyday tasks."

In wearables, smartwatch adoption grew 5% to reach 23% of households and fitness trackers grew 4% to reach 29% of U.S. households.

"The paradigm in consumer technology is rapidly evolving to a new IoT, The Intelligence of Things,” states Koenig.  “AI, voice recognition, sensors and wireless connectivity are bringing greater capabilities and convenience to consumers."