Automakers of all types have largely aligned on touchscreen and voice control as the primary modalities for infotainment HMI. While touch-and-voice-centric HMI has achieved a majority market penetration in all major markets, China in particular spearheads voice as the primary modality in many verticals.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, global sales of smart speakers in Q1 2020 reached $28.2 million units, an increase of 8.2% on Q1 2019, according to new research from Strategy Analytics. Amazon remained the leading brand with a share of 23.5%, up from 21.5% in the same period a year ago. Google retained second place with a 19.3% share, compared to 17.9% in Q1 2019.

A rise in the use of voice controls and the increased interest in voice commands to control in-home entertainment devices increasingly will drive volumes among US broadband households, according to new research from Parks Associates. The research firm reports that over half of US broadband households find voice control of connected entertainment devices to be appealing. Voice functionality has also become an important buying consideration, with 12% of US broadband households stating it is a top feature when buying a new smart TV.“

The importance of the growing smart home market is drawing in car manufacturers and their development strategies, as Mercedes, BMW, Ford, and others are bringing Amazon Alexa and other smart home voice control platforms into their connected cars. But, voice control is just the start, ABI Research suggests.

New research from Parks Associates shows that more than half (55 percent) of U.S. broadband households want to use voice to control their entertainment and smart home devices.