What trends and opportunities are you seeing in the audio market looking forward ? What will the audio market look like in the future and what are HARMAN ’ s key areas of focus ?
CONNECTED DEVICES
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FACTS
• Research by FutureSource Consulting predicts devices using voice assistants will grow by 541 % in volume by 2022 ; from 24mn units to more than 154mn units .
• Around 60 % of owners in the US consider their speaker to be a necessity and nearly 50 % of owners in the UK feel that using a voice-controlled speaker has given them a better quality of life at home .
• More than 50mn automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems .
identity and positioning in the marketplace . That requires investment and care to ensure that each brand is true to its values , but it also means the brands are credible and build an affinity with an audience . It also helps us when we talk to car manufacturers about which is the best fit for a car brand and we ’ re able to match brands . Our longstanding relationships with the carmakers confirm that this strategy works and provides a good synergy for carmakers to add value to their products .
What trends and opportunities are you seeing in the audio market looking forward ? What will the audio market look like in the future and what are HARMAN ’ s key areas of focus ?
Audio is becoming ever more important in a connected lifestyle . If we look at the car sector , the industry lies at the convergence of several megatrends . These include shared mobility , electric vehicles , connectivity , autonomous driving , and AI . Across all of these , we believe that personalisation is going to be increasingly important to consumers . For music lovers , we have just presented a concept called Personi-Fi , enabling consumers to have a personalised audio experience wherever they are . Personi- Fi uses a dedicated app ( or it can be embedded in a head unit or other device ) to capture the user ’ s personal sound preferences : how they listen , what and where they like to listen to . These preferences are then stored in the cloud . Personi-Fi creates immersive sound environments , even 3D sound , which can
MARCH 2019