Users can be mainly divided into five groups: “single marital status,” “newlyweds/DINKs,” “parents with young children,” “the educated,” and “the elderly.” Among these groups, “the educated” is the largest affluent customer base with the highest proportion owning two or more devices (39%). Meanwhile, “parents with young children” accounted for the second highest proportion of those who owned two or more devices at (35%).

MIC senior industry analyst Claire Lin stated that among the educated group the oldest children are between the ages of 7 and 18 years old, and there are often two or more children in the families. Purchasing multiple smart speakers enables multiple users to make use of devices in different rooms.

According to their observations, although there is a a higher degree of pressure to provide support amount the educated group, they are also the most willing to spend money. For instance, the study revealed that 40.2% of people in the educated group were willing to spend NT$1,500 to NT$2,999 to purchase a smart speaker; furthermore, an additional 21.2% were willing to spend over NT$3,000.

Regarding the country of preference for brands and actual purchasing conditions, although the educated group displays a high degree of willingness to buy domestic products, approximately 75.6% of purchases were from American or Mainland Chinese companies with Google Home accounting for the highest ratio at 29.3%, followed by Xiaomi AI Speaker at 24.4%.

(TR/ Phil Sweeney)