Google Assistant App Count Grows 144 Percent in Two Months
Google Assistant apps available to users grew 144% between October 1st and December 1st 2017. The new Google Assistant app total of 1,766 also reflects a four-month rise of 211% and 10x increase over eight months. The current figures represent a pace of over 500 new Assistant apps per month. Google is gaining momentum in both product sales and developer commitment. The introduction of the Google Home Mini is helping drive up smart speaker unit volume and there is a growing commitment among the voice developer community to the Google Assistant platform as is evidenced by the sharp rise in apps.
The new totals place Assistant app totals at about 7.2% of the Amazon Alexa skill count. That may seem small, but it represents a significant accomplishment by Assistant app developers. Just two months ago the Assistant app total was just 1.9% of Alexa skills.
Games Dominate Google Assistant App Totals
The Games & Fun Google Assistant app category is by far the largest at 27.4% of all voice apps. That is strikingly similar to the Alexa skill percent of 25.2% for its Games, Trivia & Accessories category. Google’s next two categories, Education & Reference and Home Control account for 9.3% and 9.2% of total Assistant apps respectively. That compares to 14.5% and 3.2% for comparable Alexa skill categories. There are only a limited number of smart home applications. This higher concentration for Google Assistant reflects the smaller total app count than Alexa and the aggressive of move by smart home vendors to support both leading voice platforms. The Education voice app advantage by Alexa likely reflects more time in the market.
Local, Shopping and Games are Fastest Growing Categories
Since August, the fastest growing Google Assistant app categories have been Local, Shopping and Games. Local has grown from just seven apps to 57 today, a 714% rise. Shopping has also grown more than 500% from 10 to 66. The two month rise for the Shopping category was a healthy 200%. Games and Fun rose from 116 in August to 483 at the start of December. The slowest growing category was News & Magazines rising a mere 46% over four months. This may reflect some limitations on how Assistant can support streaming media today.
The general order of Assistant apps by category didn’t change much for the top six categories with only Travel & Transportation switching places with Productivity. The biggest category move was for Social & Communication which moved up to 7th from 11th in just two months.
Alexa Skill Count Grows 300% Over the Past Year in U.S. But Growth Rate Declining
