Amazon says more than 100 million Alexa-powered devices have been sold, a figure that shows the company’s early lead in virtual assistant technology is paying off. Dave Limp, Amazon senior vice president of devices, confirmed the figure in an interview with The Verge.
Amazon is notoriously secretive about device sales but the new figure sheds some light on the popularity of devices powered by the company’s voice-controlled assistant.
In September, Amazon unveiled 13 new Alexa devices at an event in Seattle, including refreshed versions of the Echo Dot and Echo Show as well as a voice-powered microwave and a home security device powered by newly-acquired Ring. There are more than 150 different products with Alexa built in, many of them developed by third parties.
Google, Apple, and Microsoft are all competing with Amazon for dominance in virtual assistants. Amazon’s Alexa has led the way for years, but the market has become much more competitive recently. Google is gaining ground in the space, and a September report found the Google Home Mini was the top-selling smart speaker in the second quarter of 2018, though Amazon’s devices still outsold Google in aggregate.
