China has the highest use of smart speakers, said a report based on a survey covering 22,000 consumers from 21 countries by Accenture, the largest global management consulting services provider.

77 percent of the interviewed Chinese consumers have used smart speakers, the highest in the world, 27 percentage points higher than the global average, according to the report.

Thanks to the independent voice-command virtual assistants installed on smartphones, 56 percent of Chinese consumers have decreased their frequency of setting notifications, playing music and using other functions on their phones. 97 percent of the interviewed Chinese consumers said that they were satisfied with the smart speakers.

The consumers expect their digital voice assistants to be able to complete more complex tasks such as restaurant booking and virtual medical consultation. The integration of smart speakers and home appliances with higher information transparency is also in their vision.

However, safety concerns, recognition accuracy and privacy issues remained three major bumps smart speakers may face in future development. 34 percent of Chinese consumers said they didn’t know which aspects of their personal data was used.

Yu Hongbiao, managing director of electronics and high technology industry of Accenture Greater China, said that to improve customer loyalty, enterprises need to stay abreast of the time, keep informed of about user needs as well as build more trust with them.