And this is set to grow even further: globally, Ovum forecasts the native digital Assistant installed base to grow from 3.6 billion in 2016 to 7.5 billion active devices by 2021 , including smartphones, tablets, wearables, smart home devices, VR headsets, TV sets, set-top boxes and media streamers (see Figure 2).

Siri’s integration in core native apps such as iMessage and Photos in iOS 11, to be released in the fall, will bring that engagement rate to 100 percent.

More importantly, Alexa enjoys a much wider demographics spread than its competitors with high level of engagement from kids and seniors.

The pace of innovation set by Amazon is staggering with new devices and partners appearing monthly, but Alexa has its limitations: it has very little presence on handsets (versus Siri and Google Assistant) and currently only speaks English and German.

2018 will see the emergence of a new generation of digital assistants offering a more personal experience and the ability to see as well as hear, getting a step closer to the sci-fi scenarios everyone has been dreaming of, or, having nightmares about.