Headphones Q1 update: Headphones Global Market Value Continues To Surge Despite Pandemic

The CE Team at Futuresource Consulting has shared Q1 Market Tracker highlights from the headphone market, showing that the global value continues to surge. The global headphones market has posted a strong Q1, achieving revenues of $7.2 billion and year-on-year growth of 22% despite the impact of Coronavirus. With consumers restricted to shopping online, the true wireless stereo category continued to lead the way across all regions.

With more than 60 million adults A18+ in the U.S. now owning a smart speaker, new research from The Smart Audio Report reveals how the outbreak of COVID-19 and quarantine measures are disrupting routines and shifting consumer behaviors. Other key findings from the Spring 2020 Report reveal that usage of voice commands in general has increased slightly since the pandemic, with 52% of voice-assistant users saying they use voice tech several times a day or nearly every day, compared to 46% before the outbreak.

After Sonarworks introduced the SoundID concept at CES 2020, the expectations couldn't be any higher. After all, Sonarworks is the company behind the Reference Studio and Reference Headphone software used extensively by musicians, producers and studio engineers to generate a consistent reference monitoring environment. By anticipating the launch of its new SoundID Listen app for Mac and Windows, Sonarworks is reaching out to consumers with a solid technology proposition for personalized sound on headphones. But will consumers recognize the value as professionals do?

Post-CES 2020 Impressions. "CES is over but we’re just getting started!" That’s the optimistic vision propagated by many companies who just attended the gigantic Las Vegas event and they leave without really knowing if it was a success or not. Because this is no longer the old days when audio companies would leave CES with their order books filled. Currently, all you have are “contacts” and “great meetings” and little else to backup the promises of future business. And that’s the most important game after all at a show like CES. That and the media hallo effect that new product presentations might have caused.

The exploding popularity of smart speakers in China is confirmed by findings from the latest Strategy Analytics consumer survey. The report, 2019 Smart Speaker User Survey – China Results, found that 63% of people who do not currently use a smart speaker plan to buy one within the next year. Another 22% say they will purchase a smart speaker later on, suggesting that smart speakers overall should reach at least another 85% of the population.

The Smart Audio Report Spring 2019 is part of the industry's longest-running public research series about smart speaker consumer behavior in the U.S.. The updated research reveals how smart speaker user behavior and perceptions are evolving as owners 'settle in' with their devices and the market matures out of its introductory phase. According to the survey promoted by NPR And Edison Research, seven-in-ten smart speaker owners use their device daily despite common concerns around security and privacy, while those same factors are leading reasons non-owners have not acquired a device.