Alexa was the hottest gift on Amazon this holiday season.
The Echo Dot, which stars Amazon’s cheerful virtual assistant, was the best-selling item on all of Amazon during the 2017 winter shopping period, the online-retail giant said in a release this week. Millions of Echo Dot devices were sold worldwide—more than any other item by any manufacturer in any category on the site.
Tens of millions of Alexa-enabled devices—which includes the Echo Dot—were sold on Amazon overall, the company said. Some models, like the new Echo Spot, the Echo Dot, and Echo Buttons accessories sold out, and are now only available for post-holiday pre-order. The Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, a streaming device, was also a popular buy.
If we are conservative and estimate that Amazon sold 20 million of its best seller, the Echo Dot, at the holiday sale price of $29.99, that would equal around $600 million in sales, research firm Nomura’s Instinet said in a report. The number may be even higher give that other Echo devices, like the Show and Spot, cost upwards of $200 and $100, respectively.
Amazon’s markdowns and more affordable options may have helped introduce Alexa to more homes this holiday season. The Echo Dot, which usually sells for $50 and is the cheapest Echo device on the market, was on sale for $29.99 during the holidays—a 40% discount. The regular echo was marked down to $79.99. And the Echo Spot was introduced this year as a more affordable and compact version of the Echo Show, which has camera and video capabilities.