Estimate 3 Million Unit Sold in US as Awareness Soars, with Diverse Uses
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released analysis of Amazon Echo from Amazon, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
This analysis indicates that Amazon sold 3 million Amazon Echo devices in the US since its late 2014 introduction. Awareness of Amazon Echo among US Amazon customers more than doubled during the year, as Echo buyers use it as a voice- responsive Internet query device and household controller, in addition to a high-end streaming music speaker.
CIRP estimates that for US Amazon customers, awareness of Amazon Echo increased to 47% as of December 31, 2015, up from 20% as of March 31, 2015 (Chart 1).
Chart 1: Amazon customer awareness of Amazon Echo
Amazon very carefully but aggressively promoted Amazon Echo during the year. It dedicated Amazon.com homepage real estate to Echo, promoted it on Amazon Prime Day in July, and also advertised it heavily during the holiday shopping season. This effort paid off as it stood out among Amazon customers.
As a result, based on our research CIRP estimates that Amazon sold 3 million Amazon Echo devices in the US since its late 2014 introduction, including 1 million of these devices sold during the holiday shopping season in 2015.
Amazon Echo launched well, defining a new category in a crowded marketplace. Echo sold steadily throughout 2015, and as Amazon ramped up promotion, it sold even better at Christmas.
Customers use Amazon Echo for many purposes, with over one-third using it as an information provider responding to questions and as an audio speaker for listening to streaming music (Chart 2).
Chart 2: How consumers use Amazon Echo (multiple responses allowed, percentages sum to over 100%)
Our research shows that more than half of Echo owners use the device as more than a voice-controlled music speaker. Users report asking about weather and news, and controlling other connected devices.
CIRP bases its findings on surveys of 2,000 US subjects who made a purchase at Amazon.com in the period from January-December 2015. For additional information, please contact CIRP.