China's wireless headset sales in the first half of 2020 were impressive, and there is still huge potential for future development

The latest report from market research firm IDC shows that in the first half of 2020, China's wireless headset market shipped 42.56 million units, a year-on-year increase of 24%. Among them, true wireless headsets accounted for 64%, a year-on-year increase of 49%.

Why is there such a big market for wireless headphones? Because there is market demand. Compared with traditional wired headphones, wireless headphones are more portable and comfortable to use, so these products quickly gained recognition from consumers. Yang Shengsong of Huafu Securities published a research report pointing out that in the 5G era, the most anticipated thing is not 5G mobile phones, but the application of AI technology brought by 5G in the field of wearable devices. Compared with 5G mobile phones, wearable smart devices, especially TWS headphones, may have a shorter usage cycle and a higher consumption frequency. Take Apple's wireless headphones as an example. The ultra-small size and good sound performance, as well as the help of the Apple brand, have kept its sales good.

Image source: IDC

From the manufacturer ranking, Apple ranks first with a market share of 18.8%. Huawei ranks second with a market share of 10.1%, followed by Xiaomi, Amoi and Edifier. It can be seen that the top three manufacturers are all mobile phone manufacturers. IDC believes that with the rapid progress of mobile phone manufacturers in audio technology, mobile phone manufacturers have quickly occupied the market with brand influence, channel operation capabilities and product compatibility.

IDC also pointed out that the top three manufacturers only account for 37% of the overall market share. The long-tail manufacturers are diversified and numerous. With the influx of a large number of white-label manufacturers, the competition in the Bluetooth headset market has become increasingly fierce.

In addition, the development of the Bluetooth headset market shows four major trends: the proportion of active noise reduction will increase rapidly, the advantages of mobile phone manufacturers will gradually emerge, biosensor technology will be more widely used and the voice interaction ecosystem in mobile scenarios will be developed.

In the first half of 2020, active noise reduction products accounted for 30% of the Chinese true wireless headset market, a year-on-year increase of 122%. As noise reduction technology matures and costs decrease, various small and medium-sized manufacturers are gradually adopting active noise reduction solutions.