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Stuttering Aid Market estimation
Hello! Thanks for asking Wonder for the estimated market size for stuttering aids. In short, the estimated global market size for stuttering aid devices could be anywhere from $6.66 billion to $31.08 billion, depending on varying statistics for the total number of people who stutter worldwide. Speech therapy is by far the preferred treatment method, though specific data on the percentage of the overall speech therapy market that is made up of patients who stutter proved elusive. Below, please find the results of my research.
METHODOLOGY
I began by searching for existing market reports on the stuttering aid market, assistive device market, altered auditory feedback devices market, and speech pathology market, but I found no precompiled data on the use or sales of stuttering aids. So, then I searched the websites of the National Stuttering Association and the Stuttering Foundation. There, I found some useful data for triangulating a rough estimate, but no definitive answer. I also searched for the revenues of the top companies in this sector, in hopes of estimating the market size that way, but since these companies are all privately-held, the revenue data was largely unavailable. I did additional research into surveys or polls that may have been conducted among people who stutter in search of data regarding the overall use of these assistive devices, but that data was quite limited as well.
MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION
- Electronic devices (DAF/AAF)
The only information I was able to unearth regarding the use of stuttering aids was at the Stuttering Foundation website. As you have noted, there are approximately 70 million people in the world who stutter, and 3 million of those are in the US. However, the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD) puts the global number at only 15 million.
The Stuttering Foundation conducted a global survey of people who stutter and found that 85.2% of respondents decided against using an electronic aid for their stuttering. Expense and lack of adequate insurance coverage were cited as reasons for not using the devices. Please note that the sample size of this survey was quite small, so the following triangulations will be rough.
If we assume the other 14.8% of people are using the devices, that would be approximately 10.36 million people, globally (70 million x .148). The cost of an electronic anti-stuttering device can be anywhere in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. If we use the median price of $3,000 as the average price, that would give us a potential market size of $31.08 billion (10.36 million x $3,000).
However, if we use the 15 million global estimate offered by the NIH, we get 2.2 million potential users of these devices (15 million x .148). So the market size would be an estimated $6.66 billion (2.2 million x $3,000).
So, the estimated market size for electronic devices such as DAF/FAF devices could be anywhere from $6.66 billion to $31.08 billion.
- Top companies
Unfortunately, since most of the companies that produce electronic devices and apps are private companies, their revenue data is largely unavailable. Some of the top companies are listed in an article at the Stuttering Foundation. However, I found revenue data for only one of these companies. SpeechEasy has estimated revenues of approximately $3.3 million.
- Apps
App revenue data was also difficult to come by, but I have compiled what little data I found. Some apps are available for free download. I have used these monthly totals to estimate the yearly revenue generated by each app:
• DAF Assistant: $3,900 in downloads in April 2017; $4,900 (1,000 downloads at $4.99 each) in May 2017. Averaging the two months, we get $4,000, so that would put the yearly revenues at about $52,800.
• Speech4Good: $255 for 113 downloads in April 2017. Yearly revenues is estimated to be around $3,060.
Totaling the revenues for these three apps, we get an estimate market size of $91,860.
I also searched the website SensorTower, which evaluates the sales of apps. The freely-available data at this website only offers a range for each app, but we can use that as another rough estimate. For each of the following apps, SensorTower shows under $5,000 in revenue and under 5,000 downloads for the month of March. I've shown the price of each app for additional context.
So, if we use the top amount of $4,999 for each of these apps, we can roughly estimate the yearly revenue for each to be $59,988, making the yearly total for all four $239,952. So, if we add this to the $91,860 for the first three apps mentioned, we get a total estimated market size of $331,812.
Therefore, the total estimated market for both electronic devices (DAF/FAF) and apps would total between $6,660,331,812 and $31,080,331,812. Apps make up less than 1% of the total market.
SPEECH THERAPY
The US Speech Therapy market is worth $3 billion. Global reports are all paywalled. Also, the reports do not segment the data by disorder, so I was unable to find data on the percentage of clientele made up by those who stutter. According to one survey, I did learn that 78% of people who stutter have seen a speech therapist, while a smaller percentage of use other treatment methods. The data I reviewed did not offer specific percentages, but the chart shows more than twice as many people choose speech therapy alone as a treatment over all other treatment options. DAF appears to be just under half and AAF is less one-fourth the number who seek speech therapy. Most survey respondents indicated a neutral response to the effectiveness of any treatment. Among the survey respondents, 31% said their stuttering was moderate, another 31% said moderate to severe, while 19% said it was mild and 4% severe.
SUMMARY
To sum up, based on varying statistics for the total number of people who stutter worldwide, the estimated global market size for stuttering aid devices could be anywhere from $6.66 billion to $31.08 billion. While data specific to the use of speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering was not available, I was able to learn that 78% of those who stutter try speech therapy, and it is twice as likely to be used as other forms of treatment.
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