Transparency Market Research forecasts the global intelligent virtual assistant market to grow from $627.7 million in 2015 to $7.9 billion by 2024, at a 32.8 percent compound annual growth rate.
The market, it also notes, is immensely fragmented, with Creative Virtual, Nuance Communications, Next IT, and IntelliResponse (which was acquired by [24]7 in November 2014) accounting for about 32 percent of the total market. Other prominent players, such as CodeBaby, Anboto Group, Artificial Solutions, and Speaktoit, have been enhancing their product portfolios and expanding their networks by establishing partnerships with end-use enterprises.
In the report, Transparency analysts noted that there has been an increased focus on the development of intelligent virtual assistants to be used in a wide range of applications for self-service, intelligent reporting, and improved customer experience.
The report also notes that the impact of social media on the development of intelligent virtual assistant technology has been huge, especially as more consumers have been spending more time on social media platforms for various day-to-day activities, which has tremendously impacted their purchase decisions. This has prompted the greatest growth of the intelligent virtual assistant market in the retail sector, with players looking to improve customer experience and relationship.
In addition to this, the shift of organizations from analog to digital technologies has resulted in the massive amounts of organizational data, thereby creating the demand for intelligent virtual assistant software. This is a key factor driving the global market, according to the report.
On the down side, the complexities and cost of intelligent virtual assistant technology are rather high, which present major challenges for several companies. The lack of skilled resources required to effectively use and manage this technology is also a key barrier.
By technology, speech recognition is not only the leading revenue generator; it is also projected to exhibit the highest CAGR of 33.3 percent through 2024. Web sites form the leading application segment in the intelligent virtual assistant market, while messenger bots have been identified by Transparency analysts as the most promising segment.
In terms of end use, large enterprises hold the majority share, but small and midsized companies will expand at the fastest CAGR through 2024. While North America is the leading contributor to the growth of the intelligent virtual assistant market by region, Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a pace greater than that of the global market.