The market for speech and voice recognition technology in India is set to grow rapidly, underscoring a dire need for brands to understand how the audiences interact and perceive this technology, said digital agency WATConsult.

From voice-assistant-enabled feature phones to connected devices like Alexa and Google Home, the ecosystem is taking an encouraging turn, and thus, opening much more avenues for brands and businesses.

According to a new report by the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India-owned agency’s market research division, Recogn, the market is set to jump from Rs 149.95 crore (US$21 million) at the end of 2019 to Rs 210.63 crore (US$58.4 million) by the end of 2020 – growing 40.47% within the year.

The report, Voice Technology in India: Now and Future - Consumer and business perspective, focuses on the market of voice technology in India, the perception of voice assistants, home management with use of voice and data security concerns. It also highlights the usage patterns of voice tech across most-used voice assistants including shopping recommendations.

Key findings from the report:

  • 76% of the users are familiar with the speech and voice recognition technology.
  • On average, users are interacting with voice assistants on various devices for at least a year’s time.
  • The users residing in top metros have been using the voice assistants for around more than a year.
  • 60% of the users give voice commands on their smartphones. Users of the Google Assistant use it for results on their queries and check for navigation while travelling.
  • Even at this early stage, the majority of users (49%) prefer a combo of speaking and typing that occurs frequently, especially on phones. 38% of users prefer to speak their queries aloud.
  • On a daily basis, voice assistants are frequently used to listen to music (65%), get daily news and updates (64%).
  • When it comes to usage patterns, most of the users search for queries online and are comfortable using voice assistants indoors.
  • Google Assistant is perceived to be smart, intelligent and helpful in search queries. Alexa is perceived as a reliable assistant in terms of managing smart home devices and usability by its users.
  • 46% of the users feel that voice assistants on their devices are always recording and listening. Users are conscious about their privacy and feel that the tech companies are not safe. They do not feel secure in terms of their data being used elsewhere.
  • A majority of users have considered product/service recommendations from a voice assistant and shopped online. More than 30% have used voice assistants to shop for clothes and footwear.


“Voice marketing has indeed changed the dynamics of the digital marketing landscape and is growing at a fast pace,” said Heeru Dingra, CEO, WATConsult. “We are glad to bring across our latest report in the space of voice technology and have for the first time integrated our report with Google Assistant.”

Users can also download the report by saying “Talk to Voice technology in India report” to Google Assistant.

Sourced from WATConsult, Economic Times, Business Insider India, Best Media Info