SAR Insight & Consulting Publishes The Voice Algorithm Software Ecosystem Market Report

According to the latest report from SAR Insight & Consulting, strong growth is expected for all voice software, driven by its inclusion in increasing numbers of voice-enabled devices and by the increased use of digital assistants. “SAR has repeatedly discussed the scale and opportunity of the voice tech market,” says Peter Cooney, principal analyst at SAR. “Voice will be the main interface technology for many devices and the opportunities for hardware and software vendors will be huge.”

Audio hardware continues to outpace the wider Consumer Electronics sector, with global Q4 sales growing 28% year-on-year to $10.2 billion, according to new data from Futuresource Consulting’s quarterly audio tracking service, which includes a review of the key trends in the audio market. The popularity of music streaming services continues to drive market growth, as well as interest on Voice Personal Assistant (VPA) speakers, and growing adoption of wireless headphones.

The 2017 edition of the Winter National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in Anaheim will be remembered for both the pouring rain that affected all of California during three of the four show days, while also confirming the reasons why it is one of the best and most vibrant events on the audio industry calendar.

Futuresource Consulting has just completed their latest a round of research into the worldwide home audio market. The key findings indicate worldwide demand for home audio products continues to grow. New entrants Amazon and Google are creating innovation challenges to which the audio industry is responding, creating increasing consumer awareness for wireless speakers and connected applications. The report also confirms that, in 2015, Harman/JBL held the position of top home audio brand with an 11% unit share, whilst Bose was the leader in terms of revenue with an 18% share.

A new study from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) finds the audio category is constantly evolving with new features and products entering the market, including high-resolution equipment. More than half of recent audio technology consumers are interested in Hi-Res Audio (HRA) and three-quarters researched audio products in physical stores.

According to the latest Futuresource Headphones Market Report, which provides a snapshot of the current trends in headphone technology, serving also as a guide for Christmas tech gadget shopping, aftermarket shipments of headphones are projected to grow by 6.2% this year to 328.7 million units. Wireless headphones is a major growth category, expected to grow by 63% in 2015 to reach 38 million units.