High Volume


The market for headphones continues to sit at the top of the sales charts, but are we heading for a difficult second decade, and can Richard Stevenson find any new puns?


Headphone sales have been frankly astounding over the past decade, with the market regularly topping a whopping 10 milion units and average price points continually rising up the charts. The lockdown era boosted sales further, thanks to people working and living at home, trying to zone out the rest of the household. Post-Covid, the market is levelling out. Pulled-forward sales


are biting home, many people have returned to work, and the economic climate for discretionary spending has forced many households into cost-cutting measures Ebeneezer Scrooge would have been proud of.


High It’s far from canned doom and gloom, though, as volumes remain high, average value continues north, and a growing number of ultra-premium models are finding favour with more affluent buyers looking for the next must-have gadgets after the Tesla Model S Plaid has been delivered.


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In terms of movers and shakers, True Wireless continues its inexorable march to category domination, having found favour with pretty much anyone with ears


The premium end of the market is those buyers not simply


prepared to read a review and click to buy, arguably offering independents with demonstration facilities an edge in the sector. Our long-term man on the inside at GfK, Nick Simon, client


director, market intelligence, paints a fairly loud picture given the economic backdrop. He tells Alert: “It has not been a bad year for headphones and


stereo mobile beadsets, but unit sales that have regularly exceeded 10 million units a year look set to drop just below that all-important landmark in 2023. “Fortunately, good news at the higher end of the price


spectrum keeps market turnover edging upwards to where it should comfortably clear £700 million in 2023.”


40 What’s Hot: Headphones and Accessories


True Wireless In terms of movers and shakers, True Wireless continues its inexorable march to category domination, having found favour with pretty much anyone with ears. Having lost two sets of premium True Wireless headphones


myself in 2023, I am personally convinced that a significant chunk of this market is replacement purchases from absent-minded or clumsy people who have accidentally left these bijou devices on trains, planes and in public spaces. Mr Simon argues a more logical case for the growth of True


Wireless: “More brands and models have come to this market over the past couple of years, and at the same time, the most obvious positive effect in this sector comes from the ever-increasing incidence of True Wireless models incorporating Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology.”


Innovation


While genuine innovation has been a little sparse in the True Wireless sector since ANC emerged in the category, a number of brands have been talking about wi-fi-enabled True Wireless headphones. Theoretically, these devices would offer a much longer range from the source transmission device or a router/AP and higher bandwidth for higher-resolution audio codecs. They could also provide direct connectivity with any number of


streaming services and direct voice integration without the need for a separate smart device. January’s CES is rumoured to see several wi-fi True Wireless


launches. Larger-sized wireless (Bluetooth) headband models, more in tune with the audiophile buyer, thanks mainly to their larger drivers, continue to do well in solid sales numbers and ever-increasing average price points. The days when £200 bought you a serious, premium set of audiophile headphones have long gone, and £200 is now seen as entry-level for serious music aficionados, with the £200-£500 sector doing very well. “It is certainly good news for Bluetooth headband models,” says


Mr Simon. “The ever-popular upper echelons of price classes are doing


What’s Hot: Headphones and Accessories


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