Market Trends of Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) Industry
Smart Speakers to Drive the Market Growth
- The characteristics expected from a smart speaker nowadays include playing music and controlling smart home devices. An increasing number of smart speakers is believed to give voice assistants more utility in a connected user's life. In a short period of time, voice-activated speakers have become a part of people's routines. Reasons for this include the ability to use the technology while multitasking, the fact that people speak more quickly than they type (speed), and increasing human interfaces.
- Further, consumers frequently like products that are both affordable and packed with high-end features. Due to its promotional tactics at a Whole Foods store and Alexa-focused advertisements on both the web and television commercials, Amazon Alexa achieved tremendous momentum among consumers. Amazon also lowered the price of several of its products to obtain a competitive edge.
- Publishers and media companies are trying out new content and ways for smart speakers to interact with it.For instance, publishers like NPR, Reuters, the New York Times, CNN, and local news providers, such as the Tennessean, IndyStar, and Texas Tribune, are all creating short audio briefings designed to be heard on smart speakers.
Among the most well-known smart speakers are the Amazon Echo and Google Nest ranges of products, but there are plenty of third-party speakers, like the Sonos One, which come with both Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. These companies are rolling out new products to cater to the increasing market demand. Smart speakers are forecast to drive the next wave of FMCG and grocery e-commerce. Companies are thinking of integrating voice technology into a broader cross-channel strategy.
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North America is Expected to Hold a Major Share
- Since many millennials in the region prefer self-service options and messaging apps, businesses in the region are likely to choose IVA services to meet their needs, which will help the market grow in the region.
- The region's robust banking and healthcare sectors have actively invested in chatbots for customer personalization. The early adopters of AI-assisted chatbots in the banking sector are from North America.
- For instance, Nuance Communications, a prominent player in the market, revealed that 80% of 10,000 US clinicians believe virtual assistants will drastically change healthcare in the next few years. Such high consumer inclination toward self-service options has led to the growth of messaging applications, indicating the favorable environment for adopting IVA chatbots across regions.
- Also, companies are putting more money into improving IVA technology with the help of AI and machine learning to support automated decision-making systems. This is expected to drive the market across the region.Recently, Amazon added a notification capability to the Amazon Voice Services API. Therefore, this latest voice notification feature allows Alexa to indicate some new content, such as shopping updates, upcoming offers, shopping festival details, and many other updates. These voice search notifications are expected to become the latest trend in the coming years.
- The US remains an important market for smart speaker adoption. According to the latest Smart Audio Report from NPR, around 24% of Americans (18+) own at least one smart speaker, and the average owner has more than one. The majority of Americans own Alexa. Since Amazon first introduced the Echo, it has become popular in the United States, challenging other top competitors.
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