(Yicai Global) June 22 -- The value of China's artificial intelligence software market will reach almost USD12.8 billion in 2024, according to the latest projection from IDC.

The sector will rise at an annual compound growth rate of 39 percent in the six years through the end of 2024, the research firm said in a recent report.

China's AI software market, including mobile applications, was worth USD2.9 billion in 2019, according to IDC figures, and USD6 billion when factoring in hardware. The report did not say how fast the market grew last year.

New infrastructure has boosted AI construction and the Covid-19 pandemic has stimulated the data intelligence market, said Lu Yanxia, associate research director at IDC China. Industry and companies use AI for many reasons and there is a large space for the market to grow, she added, saying some market segments will saturate but there is plenty of room for innovation.

Computer vision applications make up the majority of the market, contributing around USD1.5 billion last year with growth drivers coming in the forms of security and city brains. Audio semantic applications added around USD1.2 billion, with uses including customer service, voice-to-text in court hearings, and consumer products for smart homes.

Machine learning was popular this year and last, but still only adds around USD205 million to the market, the report said. Data management, applications, commercialization and talent are all limiting capabilities of the field, it added.

Editor: James Boynton