Digital assistants: vendor optimism should be tempered by consumer uncertainties says Strategy Analytics

The creation of compelling use cases and addressing consumer privacy concerns should be prioritized by digital assistant players in the intelligent home

Milton Keynes, UK – August 2, 2017**: Interest in the home-based use of digital assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant is red hot right now but the long-term stickiness of the technology will depend upon companies getting a deeper understanding of consumer behavior in the home. Strategy Analytics’ latest state of the market report looks at the barriers to the adoption of digital voice assistants in the intelligent home and cautions that industry players including service providers and device manufacturers must improve their insights into the drivers of consumer behavior in order to come up with winning product and marketing strategies.

Strategy Analytics’ associated Voice Interface and Digital Assistants: Winning the Battle to be the User Interface of Choice in the Intelligent Home report is published here: http://bit.ly/2f4RYqJ

“There is no doubt that cloud-based voice-first technologies have created huge industry buzz” says David Watkins, Director, Intelligent Home Group at Strategy Analytics. “However, we must remember that the market is very much in its infancy and the potential of digital assistants in the home is still largely unrealized. Rapid technology advancements in recent years have resulted in the development of highly accurate voice interfaces and companies must now focus on compelling use cases for voice rather than trying to shoehorn the technology into every situation.”

Joe Branca, Senior Analyst of Strategy Analytics’ Intelligent Home Group adds that “Although we expect voice interactions with products and services in the home to increase over time, voice will complement rather than completely replace existing interaction methods. Voice may be suitable for simple, single purpose commands such as controlling lights, changing music or creating reminders but other more complex tasks may require additional sensory stimulus such as visual feedback. Companies will need to think hard about how the user experience can translate to this new interaction medium.”