Simultaneously, sales of video surveillance equipment and television sets remain stable
In the bustling world of tech, 2025 saw a notable shift in consumer preferences, with smart speaker sales experiencing a significant surge in operator retail stores. This growth can be attributed to several key factors, including advancements in AI-enabled voice technology, the growing adoption of smart homes, and enhanced connectivity like 5G.
Leading brands, such as Amazon and Apple, capitalised on this trend, buoyed by their investments in AI-powered virtual assistants and multi-room wireless audio streaming. These brands, with their strong ecosystems and hardware integration in smart home products, dominated the smart speaker market in 2025.
Compared to other categories like mobile phone loudspeakers, which are growing steadily at a CAGR of around 3.3%, smart speakers and the broader wireless speaker market exhibit much faster growth rates exceeding 28% CAGR. This rapid expansion is a testament to consumers' preference for multifunctional and connected devices.
The smart speaker market is projected to continue its growth trajectory, with an expected CAGR of around 28.6% through 2026, reaching over USD 65 billion globally. This growth is driven by factors such as the rapid consumer adoption of voice-enabled AI speakers to replace traditional household audio devices, improvements in generative AI making virtual assistants more conversational and personalised, and the adoption of Matter, a unifying smart home standard.
Moreover, enhanced wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and upcoming 5G deployment have improved user experience and connectivity speed, further fueling the growth of the smart speaker market.
In the operator's retail stores, the expansion of Sber's smart system matrix primarily contributed to the 77% increase in smart speaker sales. By June 2025, sales of Sber Home and Sber Mini 2 smart speakers had increased up to 13 times.
Interestingly, sales of video surveillance equipment and TV set-top boxes remained unchanged in the operator's retail stores in 2025. Meanwhile, smartphone sales saw a mixed picture, with Tecno recording a growth of 7.4%, while Realme experienced the highest growth in units sold of smartphones, up 12.6%. Xiaomi also saw a growth of 5% in smartphone sales.
Samsung and HONOR saw a slight increase in sales, but no significant change was observed in the sales of video surveillance equipment and TV set-top boxes. The operator's retail stores were stocked with Sber Home and Sber Mini 2 smart speakers in April 2025.
As of June 2025, the number of T2 customers purchasing VK smart speakers remained stable, while there was a slight increase in sales of Samsung and HONOR products. The smart speaker category saw a 77% increase in demand compared to the first two quarters of 2024.
In conclusion, the rise in smart speaker sales in operator retail stores in 2025 reflects consumers' increasing preference for AI-driven, interconnected smart home devices, supported by technological advancements and expanding ecosystems from key brands like Amazon and Apple. As we move forward, it will be interesting to see how these trends continue to shape the tech landscape.
[1] Source: TechCrunch, 2025 [2] Source: Statista, 2025 [3] Source: Strategy Analytics, 2025
- Amidst the escalating demand for smart home devices, the growth of the smart speaker market is driven by advancements in AI-powered voice technology, the expanding ecosystems of leading tech brands like Amazon and Apple, and improvements in connectivity through technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 5G.
- With the CAGR of smart speaker sales exceeding 28% compared to other gadget categories like mobile phone loudspeakers, it is evident that consumers are exhibiting a strong preference for multifunctional and connected smart home devices.
