Will Hearables Become an Indispensable Device in the Workplace?

2020 is poised to be an exciting year for hearables. Moving beyond the concept of an occasional gadget within the consumer world, hearables will now look to provide more advanced technology to improve the everyday life of the employee. This shift in focus will encourage many vendors to move towards the office hearable in a bid to master the growing opportunities in the workplace.

Productivity, software integration and user comfort are fast becoming priority areas for business owners looking to improve the needs of their workforce on an individual level; keeping employees satisfied means taking a more personalised approach to how they work and treating their needs like those of consumers.

So how will office hearables help to achieve this?

The feature-rich offering provided by hearables will not stop at enhanced audio quality - hearables will provide native integration, language translation and frictionless pairing with software products. For example, PowerPoint could be controlled using simple voice commands, Word documents created using voice transcription, and languages translated in real-time over the phone with international clients. The collaborative nature of the device would encourage a fast-paced work ethic, replacing manual tasks and improving the quality of communication via active noise cancellation.

The device also presents a new wave of technology that is truly empathetic. Voice-activated assistants will begin to understand our personal needs and preferences over time, tailoring preferred music choices to improve concentration, monitoring individual stress levels and encouraging regular work breaks.

Eventually, due to their capability of providing screen-free access, office hearables could make the need for additional devices in the workplace obsolete – potentially eliminating the need for a laptop or smartphone entirely.

How Smart Will Our Ears Become?

While the global hearables market is still relatively niche, competition will intensify as their ability to improve the traditional headset becomes more apparent. Microsoft Surface Earbuds are set to launch later this year – providing advanced integration and AI voice assistants with Office features for the workplace. Apple, Google and Amazon are likely to follow suit as the smartphone market matures. The question will be around who will choose to shift their efforts towards the all-round entertainment and communication device for the employee.

The Office Hearables Market Report

As the leading market research provider in corporate meeting room technology, B2B A/V and personal electronics, Futuresource will bring together its expertise in their latest report to investigate the hearable marketplace for both IT and consumer brands.

The report will cover a range of segment breaks, including technology (in-ear vs on-ear/over-ear and wireless), pricing and geographical coverage across Americas, Asia and EMEA.

A range of desk research, sales data and industry interviews will enable us to provide a 5 year forecast for the hearables market. Industry interviews will consist of product vendors, channel players and component suppliers.

Futuresource will also leverage end user feedback to further understand developments in audio and visual technology in the office and wider commercial environment. Questions will address routes to market, technology owned, buying preferences and usage of existing consumer or office headsets at work.

Please feel free to get in touch with Leon Morris via leon.morris@futuresource-hq.com for any questions or for access to the Hearables market report.

About the author

Kayley Bright

Kayley Bright is the Associate Director of Marketing for Futuresource Consulting, leading Futuresource’s inhouse marketing team. Kayley begun her career in marketing ten years ago following the completion of her English Literature degree at Loughborough University. Since then, her keen interest in content creation, combined with a love for art, led her to pursue a career in marketing to support with creative brand building and business growth. In her spare time Kayley is a pencil portrait artist, who is currently working on transferring her skillset to the world of digital art!