(Yicai Global) July 29 -- China's smart speaker sales volume more than tripled in the first half of this year, as market leaders, including Xiaomi and Baidu, launched diversified product portfolios with attractive pricing, according to a Chinese data provider.

The volume rose to 15.6 million units, which is nearly the figure of the entire year 2018, according to All View Cloud. Revenues grew by almost one-and-a-half times to CNY3 billion (USD435.9 million) during the six months. 

Sales volume will more than double to 34.3 million units this year while related revenues will grow almost two-fold to CNY7 billion, All View Cloud projected. Globally, such sales will exceed 100 million units, it predicted.

The three market leaders are Alibaba Group Holding with its Tmall Genie series, as well as search engine giant Baidu and Xiaomi, covering more than 93 percent of the total market share. In the first half, the number of models rose 43 percent to 86 from the previous year as retailers introduced wider product series to meet demand.

January and June were peak months for sales due to promotions among brands on major e-commerce platforms. The average price for a speaker that can be controlled by voice commands is around CNY100 (USD14.50), which makes it into an affordable item that can be used by the whole family. 

Editor: Emmi Laine