Text to Speech Software Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component (Solution, Services), By Deployment Mode (Cloud, On-Premise), By Organization Size (SMEs, Large Enterprise), By Industry Vertical (Consumer Electronics, Automotive and Transportation, Healthcare, Education, Finance, Retail, Enterprise , Others) and By Region(North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, LATAM) Forecasts, 2024-2032

Market Overview

The global text-to-speech software market was valued at USD 2.74 billion in 2023. It is estimated to reach USD 10.66 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 16.3% during the forecast period (2024–2032). There has been a rise in the number of people who have vision impairment in the last few years, which has made reading difficult for them. To tackle this disability, there is a rising demand for TTS technology, thereby driving the global text-to-speech software market. Moreover, technological advancements in AI, NLP, and speech synthesis systems enhance the efficiency of speech created from the text, which is estimated to create opportunities for vendors operating in the global market.

Software known as text-to-speech (TTS) transforms written text into spoken words. It utilizes synthetic speech generation techniques to produce human-like speech output from text inputs. TTS software typically involves advanced algorithms and linguistic processing to generate natural-sounding speech, including intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation.

Users can input text in various formats, such as plain text files, documents, web pages, or application interfaces, and the TTS software will convert it into audible speech. This technology is widely used in various applications to provide accessibility features for people with visual impairments or reading difficulties, enhance user experiences in digital content consumption, enable hands-free interaction with devices, and facilitate communication in diverse settings. Thus, text-to-speech software is crucial in enhancing accessibility, enabling communication, and improving user experiences across various applications and industries.

Highlights

• Cloud dominates the deployment segment 
• Consumer electronics dominates the industry vertical segment 
• North America is the highest shareholder in the global market

Market Dynamics

Global Text-to-Speech Software Market Drivers:

Growing Prevalence of Vision Impairment

In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of people suffering from some kind of vision impairment. For instance, as per the World Health Organization, at least 2.20 billion people worldwide have a vision impairment affecting their near or distant vision. The primary causes of distance vision impairment or blindness include cataracts (94 million), refractive error (88.4 million), age-related macular degeneration (8 million), glaucoma (7.7 million), and diabetic retinopathy (3.9 million). In contrast, Presbyopia is the primary cause of near vision impairment, affecting 826 million people.

Furthermore, individuals with visual impairments or reading difficulties drive the Text-to-Speech (TTS) software market by creating demand for accessible, inclusive technology solutions. TTS technology is crucial in enhancing accessibility and promoting equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities in various aspects of life, including education, employment, and social interaction. The increasing recognition of the importance of accessibility and the rights of individuals with disabilities, combined with advancements in TTS technology, contribute to expanding the TTS software market as more organizations and industries prioritize inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards.

Global Text-to-Speech Software Market Restraint:

Language and Accent Support

Language and accent support limitations present significant restraints for the Text-to-Speech (TTS) software market. While TTS technology has made strides in supporting multiple languages and accents, challenges remain in accurately synthesizing speech in less common languages or regional dialects. This can restrict the applicability of TTS solutions in diverse global markets and hinder adoption in multilingual environments.

Moreover, pronunciation, intonation, and linguistic structure variations across different languages and accents pose technical hurdles for TTS developers. Limited language and accent support can lead to subpar speech synthesis quality, with unnatural-sounding or inaccurate output that fails to meet user expectations.

Global Text-to-Speech Software Market Opportunities:

Technological Advancements 

Advancements in natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), and speech synthesis algorithms have led to significant improvements in TTS software, enhancing the quality and naturalness of synthesized speech, thereby driving adoption across industries. For instance, in June 2022, Mycroft AI, the developer of the first privacy-focused, open-source technology platform, introduced its latest text-to-speech (TTS) engine, Mimic 3. The open-source neural TTS software aims to deliver the most natural-sounding voice available, with over two dozen languages and more than 100 voice sets.

Furthermore, in January 2023, Microsoft developed VALL-E, a new language model technique for text-to-speech synthesis that uses audio codec codes as intermediate representations and can mimic someone's voice after analyzing only three seconds of audio. VALL-E is a neural codec language model that tokenizes speech and utilizes algorithms to create waveforms that mimic the speaker's timbre and emotional tone. These factors present opportunities for market expansion.

Regional Analysis

North America Dominates the Global Market

Based on region, the global text-to-speech software market is bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

North America is the most significant global text-to-speech software market shareholder and is expected to expand substantially during the forecast period. North America leads the text-to-speech software market due to the presence of prominent tech companies like Nuance Communication, Microsoft Corp., and Neospeech. The regional market is primarily driven by the high acceptance rate of artificial intelligence and the widespread deployment of neural networks across several end-user verticals. Increased government investment in education for individuals with physical disabilities stimulates market expansion. Moreover, prominent industry players and researchers have been increasing the introduction and advancement of advanced text-to-speech software models to meet the increasing demand for reliable TTS technology. For instance, in November 2023, EaseText, a pioneer in text-to-speech technology, revealed a major advancement by adding Voice Cloning to its main program - EaseText Text to Speech Converter. This innovative function converts text into realistic speech and allows users to develop and incorporate customized voices.

Furthermore, in September 2023, Project Gutenberg utilized neural text-to-speech technology to release 5,000 free audiobooks. Project Gutenberg offers a wide selection of free classic literature audiobooks and other public-domain material for readers to listen to. Microsoft and MIT researchers developed the collection by scanning books using text-to-speech software that produces natural-sounding speech and can effectively interpret formatting. The texts comprise works by Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, Leonardo Da Vinci, and various other authors. Users can access them via the Internet Archive, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. The code utilized to construct the collection may be found on GitHub. Consequently, these factors are expected to drive the regional market growth.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to experience the most rapid growth in the text-to-speech software market because of increasing investments in various industries in emerging economies like China, India, and Japan. For instance, in 2019, the Government of India (GOI) invested almost USD 1.47 billion in the consumer electronics sector to boost production. The increasing use of connected devices is driving growth in the regional market. Millions of visually impaired individuals in India can now access free, open-source text-to-speech (TTS) software created by Carnegie Mellon University in partnership with the Hear2Read project. The program is available for free download on Google Play. The first language available is Tamil, but plans are to release seven more important languages during the year: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Telugu. Thus, the factors above augment the Asia-Pacific text-to-speech software market.

Segmental Analysis

The global text-to-speech software market is bifurcated into component, deployment, organization size, and industry vertical.

Based on components, the global text-to-speech software market is bifurcated into solutions and services.

Text-to-speech (TTS) software services encompass a range of offerings aimed at converting written text into spoken words using synthetic speech generation techniques. These services typically involve cloud-based platforms or APIs that allow developers and businesses to integrate TTS functionality into their applications, websites, or devices. This segment is projected to grow with the highest CAGR due to the growing adoption of technology to enhance customer engagement and experience. This enables enterprises to adopt services to eliminate technology disruption. For instance, in 2020, Volkswagen Group, a leading German automotive company, deployed Microsoft Azure to serve customers worldwide and deliver many documents in more than 40 languages. 

Based on the deployment, the global text-to-speech software market is bifurcated into on-premises and cloud. 

The cloud segment is estimated to own the highest market share. Cloud Text-to-Speech (TTS) software is a type of TTS technology that leverages cloud computing infrastructure to perform text-to-speech synthesis. Unlike traditional TTS systems that may run locally on a user's device or server, cloud TTS solutions offload the speech synthesis process to remote servers hosted in the cloud. This allows users to access TTS capabilities via internet connectivity without needing dedicated hardware or software installations.

Cloud TTS software typically offers several advantages, including scalability, accessibility, and ease of integration. Cloud resources allow users to scale their TTS applications dynamically to accommodate varying workloads or user demands. Moreover, cloud TTS services are accessible from any device with an internet connection, enabling cross-platform support and seamless user experiences across different devices and operating systems.

Based on organization size, the global text-to-speech software market is bifurcated into SMEs and large enterprises.

In large enterprises, Text-to-Speech (TTS) software serves various purposes to enhance productivity, accessibility, and communication. TTS technology converts written documents, emails, reports, and other textual content into spoken words, facilitating hands-free access to information for employees, particularly those with visual impairments or reading difficulties. TTS software can also be integrated into enterprise applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, business intelligence tools, and collaboration platforms, to provide voice-based notifications, alerts, and updates, enabling timely and efficient communication across departments and teams.

Moreover, TTS solutions can streamline training and e-learning initiatives by converting training materials, manuals, and educational content into audio formats, improving accessibility and engagement for employees undergoing skill development or onboarding processes. Thus, TTS software enhances accessibility, communication, and productivity in large enterprise environments.

Based on industry verticals, the global text-to-speech software market is divided into consumer electronics, automotive and transportation, healthcare, education, finance, retail, enterprise, and others. 

The consumer electronics segment dominates the largest market share. Text-to-speech (TTS) software is widely used in consumer electronics to enhance accessibility and user experiences across various devices. The proliferation of smart devices such as tablets, smartphones, smart speakers, and wearables has created a need for voice-enabled interfaces that offer hands-free interaction. TTS technology enhances user experiences by enabling devices to read out text-based content such as notifications, messages, and emails aloud.

Additionally, the growing adoption of virtual assistants and AI-powered devices in the consumer electronics sector relies heavily on TTS software to deliver natural-sounding speech responses and enhance user interactions. Moreover, the increasing emphasis on accessibility features in consumer electronics products, driven by regulatory requirements and consumer preferences, further fuels the demand for TTS software to make digital content accessible to users with visual impairments or disabilities.

Impact of covid-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has severely impacted the global economy. However, the text to speech software market growth is projected to witness a slight decrease on account of the temporary halt of business operations to support stringent government regulations. The market is projected to witness growth post-COVID-19 on account of surge in business operations globally.

Recent Developments

• February 2024- Amazon researchers unveiled the most extensive text-to-speech model to date, featuring improved capabilities for articulating intricate words. The BASE TTS concept, which stands for Big Adaptive Streamable TTS with Emergent capacities, has the potential to establish a basis for interactions that resemble those of humans.
• November 2023- Microsoft launched a new tool called the Azure AI Speech text-to-speech avatar. Users will be able to create realistic avatars to present scripted information.