Strong Growth After Rebound for Hearables Market

While WHO has been spreading awareness on the importance of hearing health in line with increased sound exposure, Futuresource has recognised the path to continual growth for the hearables market, as the convergence between hearables and hearing health continues. With 1 in 5 people worldwide having some sort of hearing impairment, WHO anticipates this number to grow to 1 in 4 by 2050, showcasing the growing opportunity for both hearing aids and hearables, as consumers choose to adopt hearing assistive devices in the longer term.

Strong Growth Ahead for Hearables and a Rebound for Hearing Aids

Revealed in the latest Hearables Market Report by Futuresource Consulting, the hearables market is forecast to grow 37% year-on-year. After COVID-19 hindered regular audiology check-ups leading to a headwind in maintaining the hearing aid market throughout 2020, analysts also expect to see a strong rebound in growth for hearing aids at 17% year-on-year, while the PSAP market is forecast to decline by -2%.

Untapped Potential for Hearing Aids

“Hearables have great potential to further support hearing health, given that only 7% of the population with a hearing impairment today actually own a hearing aid,” Simon Forrest comments, Principal Technology Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “And with 60% of those with hearing loss being over 50 years of age, the ageing population will increase the addressable market for hearing aids to 480 million people by 2025.”

While APAC stands as the largest hearables market, there is still plenty of fertile ground in various APAC countries for vendors to take full advantage of. Meantime, vendors in the US are shifting to focus on medical-grade OTC hearing aids as new regulations roll out throughout 2022, allowing space for hearing aids to be sold without the need of an audiologist.

Smartphone Brand’s Domination Continues On

Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, BBK electronics (Oppo, Vivo, Realme, OnePlus), and Huawei are the top five brands dominating the hearables market, as most depend on smartphones to operate, with these brands building competitive hearable products to expand their device ecosystem. From the perspective of Futuresource’s insight-leaders, smartphone dominance in the hearables market is not going away anytime soon, with brands continuing to offer industry-leading features to position themselves as an extension of the mobile experience.

Hearables’ Versatility Led to Diverse Use Cases

The versatility of hearables has taken on great advantage for diverse use cases. While entertainment is the prime application for these devices, communication has significantly grown in importance as consumers not only utilize the microphone capabilities for voice control and video calls socially but now also for work. Health and fitness are also expected to grow past just sport-directed use-cases in the mid to long term, as more products rollout conversational enhancement features and biometric sensors.

For further information on Futuresource Consulting’s Hearables Market Report 2021 or to make a purchase, please contact leon.morris@futuresource-hq.com

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About Futuresource Consulting  

Futuresource Consulting is a market research and consulting company, providing its clients with expertise in Professional AV, Consumer Electronics, Education Technology, Content & Entertainment, Professional Broadcast and Automotive. Combining strong methodologies and unsurpassed data refinement with in-depth market knowledge and forecasting, Futuresource delivers the latest insights and technological developments to drive business decision-making. 

About the author

Simon Forrest

As Principal Technology Analyst for Futuresource Consulting, Simon is responsible for identifying and reporting on transformational technologies that have propensity to influence and disrupt market dynamics. A graduate in Computer Science from the University of York, his expertise extends across broadcast television and audio, digital radio, smart home, broadband, Wi-Fi and cellular communication technologies.

He has represented companies across standards groups, including the Audio Engineering Society, DLNA, WorldDAB digital radio, the Digital TV Group (DTG) and Home Gateway Initiative.

Prior to joining Futuresource, Simon held the position of Director of Segment Marketing at Imagination Technologies, promoting development in wireless home audio semiconductors, and Chief Technologist within Pace plc (now Commscope) responsible for technological advancement within the Pay TV industry.