Voice Assistants

• [New] IDC expects global 5G smartphone ASPs to hit $495 by 2023, which should eliminate most of the price concerns voiced by consumers in recent IDC surveys.
• [New] Consumers are expecting to further embrace new technologies by 2030: 80% say they expect delivery by drone, 81% expect to engage with chatbots, and 78% expect to use an augmented, virtual, or mixed reality app to see how a product will look.
• Video Calls to Desktop in 2021 Facebook Inc's WhatsApp will introduce voice and video calling feature to the messaging app's desktop version in 2021.
• BT plans to retire its PSTN network by the end of 2025, with fixed voice services delivered to customer homes or business premises delivered over broadband connections instead.
• By 2022, voice shopping is expected to jump to $40 billion in the US and by $5 Billion in the UK.
• In 2021, we expect AI to become even smarter, with more sophisticated chatbots and advanced functionalities - including switching utility and credit providers - as well as fraud prevention becoming the norm.
• In another recent Deloitte study, 79% of manufacturers reported that expecting their AI investment to increase over 2021, while 76% expect AI to be integrated into all enterprise applications within three years.
• Mobile data services will drive mobile service revenue growth in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2018 and 2023, but mobile voice will continue to be a key contributor to service revenue.
• When Mirabegron goes generic in the US in 2023, Urovant's sales force will get 100% share of voice and will be able to capture the majority of new prescriptions in the United States.
• Consumers' readiness to spend on trending technologies and rise in usage of smart devices, especially among youngsters is anticipated to fuel the demand for smart speakers in the coming years.
• By 2022, 70% of all customer interaction will involve chatbots, voice assistants and other AI-based technologies.
• Adding a mobile or voice UI to a legacy front end can easily become a nightmare; but it's hard to imagine any modern application that does not have a mobile front-end, and in a few years, it will be hard to imagine an application without a voice-driven front end.
• Google Assistant will join the suite of voice assistants currently available on 2020 Samsung Smart TVs, providing viewers with enhanced control and discovery abilities.
• The total transaction value of payments that occur via smart home devices are forecast to grow 630% from 2020 to USD 164 billion in 2025, driven by an increasing use of voice assistants via smart speakers for e-commerce.
• Chatbots are projected to see over a 100% increase in their adoption rates in the next two to five years and are the leading AI use cases in enterprises today.
• The Chatbots Market was worth USD 1274.428 million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 7591.82 million by 2024 registering aCAGR of 34.75% over the period (2020-2024).
• President Vladimir Putin has set a target of transporting 80 million tonnes of cargo annually via the Northern Sea Route by 2025, more than twice what it ships today.
• Some 76% of respondents voted for the package of amendments, which range from better pensions and minimum wages to a reset of term limits that would allow Putin to run again in 2024 and potentially stay in power until 2036.
• Russians appeared to have paved the way for Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036 by voting overwhelmingly for a package of constitutional changes which will also boost pensions.
• Workers are speaking out against the constitutional changes that would allow Mr Putin to stay in office until 2036 amid growing frustration over their dire living conditions, which have not improved despite all the promises.
• Russia has refused to allow opponents to campaign against constitutional amendments that would authorise President Putin to remain in power until 2036.
• Coronavirus has disrupted plans for a vote on constitutional amendments that would have paved the way for Putin to rule until 2036.
• Under DW, Putin succeeds in keeping crude prices in a $ 25-30 / bl target range through 2023-causing sustained damage to the US shale industry, including associated gas production - before allowing crude prices to creep higher in 2024.

Last updated: 10 January 2021