According to an IDC report, China's Bluetooth earphone market saw sales of about 85.52 million units in 2023, marking a 7.5% year-on-year increase. Specifically, the true wireless earphone segment sold 60.9 million units, growing by 5.1% compared to the previous year.
IDC highlights two main trends in the 2023 true wireless market: a decrease in average prices due to mature technology and lower costs, with prices dropping to 365 RMB (before taxes), a decline of 11.2%, partly due to a lack of innovative features driving premium pricing. Additionally, there's a significant rise in the popularity of semi-in-ear products, with sales up 16%, accounting for nearly 40% of the market, a nearly 4% increase year-on-year. This shift reflects a growing consumer preference for comfort, especially with the rise of immersive and fragmented audio applications like short videos and live streaming, which demand extended wear.
The growing demand for comfort has rapidly propelled the development of a specific segment in the market, namely open-style earphones. In 2023, the sales volume for open-style earphones reached 6.52 million units, marking a substantial increase of 130.2% compared to the previous year. This rise in popularity has diverted some consumer interest from true wireless and neckband earphones, reflecting a shift in consumer preferences and creating more opportunities for technological innovation and premium product offerings.
IDC has made predictions for the Bluetooth earphone market in 2024, indicating three main trends:
1. The open-style earphone market is expected to see further growth, leading to a polarization in the market.
Open-style earphones, featuring both bone conduction and air conduction technologies, are diversifying. Air conduction splits into ear-hook and ear-clip forms. The market will see more bone conduction products priced below 500 RMB (before tax). Post-Huawei's FreeClip launch, air conduction ear-clips are witnessing market polarization, focusing on entry-level and premium price ranges, indicating a shift towards varied consumer preferences and technological advancements in open-style earphones.
2、Price reductions in products from smartphone manufacturers will become more apparent.
To counter fierce competition from local audio brands and generic markets, smartphone manufacturers have been reducing the prices of their true wireless products. In 2023, the sales volume of these products priced below 200 RMB (before tax) accounted for 32% of the market, a 7% increase from the previous year. This trend is expected to continue into 2024, further accelerating the reduction in market prices.
3、Channel diversification will become increasingly pronounced.
As prices drop and target markets expand downwards, true wireless products are broadening their online sales channels, including platforms like Douyin and Pinduoduo. Additionally, flexible e-commerce channels such as WeChat merchants and group buying, significant for the generic market, will continue to grow. Meanwhile, the deep offline channel capabilities and bundled sales policies of smartphone manufacturers provide a fertile ground for the future development of low-priced products.