Headphone Shipments to Reach Record 365 Million Units in 2019

The retail headphone market continues to show strength, with 365 million units shipped in 2019, according to SAR Insight & Consulting’s Latest Headphone and Headset Forecast DATAbase. Wireless headphones and in particular true wireless stereo (TWS) models continue to be the fastest growing categories, with shipments of gaming headphones doubling from a year ago. Consequences for the electronics component industry are also visible, such as the growth in the sales of MEMS microphones.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices are forecasted to reach over 1.6 billion annual shipments by 2023 according to market research firm ABI Research. Increasing opportunities in smart home, beacons and asset tracking, emerging IoT applications, alongside growth in existing key markets and the emergence of audio over BLE will enable the technology to achieve a CAGR of 27% between 2018 and 2023, tripling in size.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and fast connectivity – critical ingredients for the next era of category leaders such as smartphones, smart home devices and smart speakers – will drive the U.S. consumer technology industry to a record-breaking $398 billion in retail revenues ($301 billion wholesale) in 2019 and 3.9 percent year-over-year (YOY) growth, which includes streaming services revenue, according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). A record growth anticipating the introduction of 5G smartphones and 8K TVs in 2019.

Predicting that over 50% of all wireless headphones will incorporate Hearable Voice assistants, touch sensors and other interface technologies, a new report by Juniper Research forecasts that hearables will become the new standard for personal audio in under 5 years. The new report from Juniper has found that there will be an estimated 417 million hearables in use by 2022. This includes fitness-focused devices, hearing augmentation and purely audio-focused devices.

Artificial intelligence (AI), voice-recognition technology and fast connectivity – critical ingredients for smart speakers, smart home technologies and smartphones – will help spur overall U.S. consumer technology industry revenue to $377 billion in retail revenues in 2018, a six percent increase, according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). The mid-year update of CTA’s flagship report, U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts, also shows whole home Wi-Fi solutions and wireless earbuds will each cross the $1 billion wholesale revenue milestone for the first time this year.

The enterprise market, led by the government, military, and retail verticals, is also beginning to turn to hearables to foster better communication, collaboration, and workforce productivity. Market research from ABI Research forecasts enterprise hearable shipments will top one million in 2021, increasing from just 30,000 in 2016, at a CAGR of more than 108%.