We know that smart speakers are having continuous growth in the Indian markets. Now, the leading device in this space is Amazon’s Echo lineup, surprisingly. This is followed by Google Home lineup which is powered by Google Assistant. Since Amazon’s Echo lineup is powered by Alexa, we know that Alexa is a popular voice assistant in India.
For this reason, we are getting to know that Alexa is getting regional languages support. And one of the most used languages in India is Hindi. It is also the national language of the country. Therefore, Amazon has seen the growth potential in India and is making Alexa learn Hindi to attract more and more customers in India.
A report from the Internation Data Corporation revealed that Amazon Echo speakers have a market share of 59% at the moment in India whereas Google Home products have a 39% share. Even though the market is young, it still a great market share to have for Amazon. Thus, Rohit Prasad who is the Vice President and Head Scientist for Alexa said “Yes, we are working on infusing regional languages capabilities in Alexa for the Indian market but these are early days”
This statement from Alexa’s VP reveals that Hindi language support is definitely in the works but it should also take some time. We do know, however, that Alexa understands Hinglish commands at the moment. The problem faced by Alexa in India is properly conveyed by Prasad in his comment given to IANS.
Prasad says that Alexa can easily understand Hindi with a little bit of work. But the problem is that Alexa needs to understand the different type of dialects and accents that Indians speak even while speaking Hindi which is proving to be a problem. He adds that you cannot just translate jokes from English to Hindi as well because they may not sound appropriate.
