116 Million Embedded Voice Assistants to Ship in Cars by 2033
As the world's car manufacturers explore other avenues for generating revenue, many are turning to embedded voice assistants, according to ABI Research.
The firm expects embedded voice assistant shipments to total 116 million worldwide by 2033, growing at a compound annual rate of 24.4 percent.
Adding value through embedded voice assistants enables auto manufacturers to address consumers' infotainment needs and generate revenue through the expansion of use cases like paid feature-on-demand (FoD), app store payments, and in-car commerce, it said.
"Integration of payment services and more third-party applications into in-vehicle app stores such as Harman's Ignite Store or Access Twine for Car, paired with more impressive [voice assistant] functionality, will create more immersive and convenient services for consumers, and the value added from this experience can combat the connected infotainment churn that [manufacturers] often see after free trial periods," said Abujayed Miah, smart mobility and automotive analyst at ABI Research.
Cellular connectivity will be embedded in 60 percent of new vehicles shipped this year, amounting to 50.62 million shipments, the firm predicts. It also expects global connected car subscriptions to break 300 million for the first time in 2024, with 65 percent of these being embedded consumer telematics subscriptions and 116 million being free trial subscriptions.
"This leaves 203 million paid subscriptions, split between 19 million infotainment subscriptions and 183 million consumer telematics subscriptions. Generating more paid connectivity subscriptions will be key to driving the growth of software-defined vehicles," Miah said.
Infotainment subscriptions have thus far failed to yield meaningful revenue for manufacturers, but immersive experiences are finding more success in the car as larger and higher-resolution screens enter the vehicle, ABI suggested.
Manufacturers, it also said, are providing video-on-demand and gaming functionalities in their vehicles, highlighting Mercedes-Benz's MBUX multimedia system.
As connectivity approaches saturation across developed markets and continues to grow rapidly in developing regions, offering competitive value with additional services and features is paramount to subsidizing this expansion, the firm added.
"Embedded connectivity is not an option anymore, and for stakeholders to sustain the software-defined vehicle transition, the industry needs to innovate to find the functionalities that a customer is willing to pay for past the point of sale," Miah concluded.