Wireless Speakers Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Technology (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Voice-enabled Speakers, and Others), By Application (In-door, and Outdoor), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

The global wireless speakers market size stood at USD 8.93 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 65.65 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 28.6% during the forecast period.

Over the recent years, smart speakers have emerged as the fastest-growing product in the smart home technology domain. Smart speakers are referred as speakers having integrated voice-enabled (Artificial intelligence) technology and wireless technology (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi). Established market players such as Amazon.com, Inc., Apple Inc. and Google are investing in the wireless technology associated with the smart speaker or solely in production of smart speaker’s Wireless multi-room audio streaming is expected to gain popularity in the coming years. The growing development of smart homes is likely to create unprecedented market opportunities in the coming years. Whereas, the deployment of 5G is likely to enhance the wireless connectivity and provide low latency which will drive the interest of market players towards providing wireless services.

MARKET TRENDS

The increasing ownership of voice-enabled speakers is growing at a faster pace than any other household electronics devices. Consumers use AI-enabled speakers to upgrade their conventional household speakers owing to their multipurpose capabilities and their ability to connect with other smart devices. According to the smart speaker consumer adoption report 2019 published by Voicebot.ai. in January 2018, there were 47.3 million U.S. users with a voice-enabled speaker and expected to rise to 66.4 million. This means that 26.2% of U.S. consumers use voice-enabled speakers. This data indicates that the adoption of the smart speaker is exponentially growing from recent years. Despite the security and privacy concerns about the voice-enabled speakers integrated with AI, they are gaining popularity and are poised to have a significant growth in the coming years.

Surge For Wireless Multi-Room Audio Streaming Positively Influences the Market

Wireless speakers integrated with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology are gaining popularity as it allows users to stream audio from a variety of speakers using wireless connectivity. Availability of wireless streaming technologies such as Airplay has supported various device vendors such as Sonos, Samsung, and others to integrate multi-room audio services. Sonos Inc., offer a multi-room speaker system integrated with Airplay2 technology. The speaker enables the user to play different audio content in each space or synchronize the speakers in multimode to play the same music in every room. Such advancements contribute to the emerging trend of wireless multi-room audio streaming.

MARKET DRIVERS

Adoption of Wireless Connected ‘In-Home Entertainment Systems’ Is Likely to Drive the Market Growth

The in-home entertainment system is a crucial part of the smart home industry. Smart home services are proliferating and developing, owing to the adoption of the internet of things and artificial intelligence technology. For instance, Apple is developing a product of wireless AI speaker that supports ‘Apple HomeKit.’ Apple HomeKit is projected to provide a centralized voice support platform to control home kit products. Thus the factors mentioned above are expected to fuel the market growth.

5G Continues its Inexorable Rise in Developing the Wireless Connectivity

Commercial 5G cellular networks and the availability of more affordable devices are driving the market interest and demand for more innovative devices among businesses and consumers. The rapid increase in the number of connected devices and an increase in data rates has enabled wireless communication between electronic devices.  This has driven the interest of speaker manufacturers to develop innovative products by integrating AI and wireless connectivity within the speakers. Further, deployment of 5G is increasing in emerging countries is likely to drive the wireless speakers market in the coming year. According to the GSMA intelligence report, across the middle east and Africa there will be more than 50 million 5G connections by 2025.   These factors reflect that the advent of 5G would ensure to drive the market growth.

MARKET RESTRAINT

Privacy Concerns is Likely to Restrict the Market Growth

Limited connectivity range, bandwidth constraints, and other effects may affect wireless speaker adoption. Also, increasing concerns regarding data privacy is likely to restrict the market growth of wireless speakers. The wireless speaker also exhibits risk of hacking, concern about the smart speakers could listen to personal communications, and law enforcement agencies could use the speaker as an intruding device in some cases. Hence, these factors could expose the personal information of individuals and are likely to hinder the market growth for short period.

SEGMENTATION

By Technology Analysis

Based on the wireless technology the market has been classified into Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice-enabled speakers and others. The Bluetooth enabled wireless speaker is anticipated to witness traction in terms of sales. Bluetooth 5.0 is the latest updated version of the Bluetooth wireless communication standard. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets that exhibit in-built Bluetooth capabilities is the fundamental factor driving the wireless speakers market growth.

There has been a significant rise in the adoption of Bluetooth speakers owing to the developments in Bluetooth specification and the standardization of advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP), a Bluetooth stereo profile. Bluetooth technology is cost-efficient and most common. Thus, the factors mentioned above will increase the adoption of Bluetooth-enabled speakers.

Voice-enabled speakers or smart speakers are projected to have a flourishing growth in the coming years. Market leaders such as Amazon.com, Inc., Google, and Samsung electronics co., LTD continue to introduce enhanced products and expanded roadmaps. For example, Amazon has launched its second and third-generation devices, including Echo Dot and Echo Tap. Also, Amazon released a range of Echo devices, including Echo Plus, Echo Connect, Echo Spot, and an update to its first-generation Echo.

Wi-Fi is the most exploited technology for music streaming services such as Google cast and Airplay. Wi-Fi offers the ability to support multiple speaker units; this is one of the advantages of Wi-Fi over other wireless technology. However, achieving synchronization between the multiple speakers may pose a challenge. Wi-Fi offers wide connectivity than Bluetooth, approximately up to 200 feet for a reliable network. These factors primarily drive the adoption of Wi-Fi enabled wireless speakers.

The other technology segment comprises wireless technologies such as Near field communication (NFC) technology. The NFC enabled wireless speakers are multifunctional, offer long battery life, among other factors. Market players of wireless speakers, such as Sony corporation provide a range of NFC enabled portable Bluetooth speakers, namely ‘XBxx Extra Bass portable Bluetooth speaker series.

By Application analysis

Voice-enabled speakers are likely to inflate the demand for indoor wireless speakers

Our report on the global wireless speakers market has been categorized into indoor and outdoor segments based on application. Indoor speakers are estimated to have a remarkable market growth owing to the growing adoption and development of smart speaker. Whereas, outdoor speakers are anticipated to have a notable market share of wireless speakers.

The following are some of the examples of indoor and outdoor speakers: Sonos Inc. offers a complete indoor and outdoor wireless speaker set with built-in voice control, Wi-Fi, Airplay, and Bluetooth capabilities. On the other hand, Sony offers a range of outdoor wireless party speakers namely the XB40XX series which are compatible with voice assistants and exhibit in-built Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

Geographically, the global wireless speakers market is segmented across five major regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. They are further categorized into countries.

North America is expected to emerge dominant in the global market of wireless speakers. North America is one of the mature markets with high rates of subscriber penetration of mobile broadband and strong levels of data usage. The region is home to have the presence of many innovative companies in the wireless speakers market such as Sonos Inc., Harman international industries, incorporated, Amazon.com, Inc., and Bose Corporation among others. These factors fuel market growth across North America.

The Asia Pacific wireless speakers market is estimated to exhibit a remarkable growth rate during the forecast period. China launched its AI integrated smart speaker in 2017 with Xiaomi and Alibaba. Samsung headquartered in South Korea plans to launch a galaxy home speaker driven by its smart assistant Bixby in early 2020. The above data reflects that the speaker acts as the strategic control point for Amazon, Google, Apple to entrench their market value across the region.

Europe market for wireless speakers is projected to have a moderate market growth. Smart speakers and the virtual assistant platform have become a common way in Europe to access the enhanced audio services. In 2016, amazon launched Echo, its smart speaker in the U.K. While Google home with Google Assistant was launched in 2017. Followed by Apple’s Homepod with built-in Siri was launched in 2018. The above data exhibits that early adoption and lucrative market opportunities would ensure to augment the market growth across the region.

The Middle East and Africa market for wireless speakers are expected to witness a steady market as the intra-regional interaction is weak being restricted with limited trade in goods and services. In spite of this, the region has exhibited significant growth in mobile device penetration and mass connectivity. Several operators in the region have started offering smart home services for instance, in 2017 Du (Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company) in UAE launched smart home services primarily focused on home automation, entertainment and monitoring. This shows that there are emerging market opportunities across the region.

The Latin America market is probable to be in its nascent stage. Due to less market share, the region exhibits significant market opportunities for the market players in the coming years. Latin America’s mobile ecosystem combined with 4G usage and rising smartphone adoption provides a large platform for service providers and innovators. These factors are expected to support the wireless speakers market growth in the region.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

Business Strategy of Sonos, Inc. Includes Making Substantial Investments in R&D of Complementary Products, Business, Technologies or Services

Sonos, Inc. generates revenue from wireless speakers, component products, and home theatre speakers. The company offers a range of wireless speaker products, including Play 1, Play 3, and Play 5. The product portfolio also includes Sonos One, a wireless speaker that includes voice control features. The company intends to expand its product portfolio. Hence, the company is making substantial investments in research and development (R&D) of complementary businesses or technology. For instance,

• September 2019 – Sonos, Inc., launched Sonos Move. Sonos Move is a battery-powered smart speaker designed for both indoor and outdoor purposes. The speaker is enabled with built-in voice assistants such as Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.


• January 2019 – Sonos Inc. and Inter IKEA Systems B.V., a retailer of products and solutions for home partnered to integrate Sonos wireless speaker products into IKEA furniture. The partnerships aim to bring music and sound into the home, including streaming services and the ability to access smart assistants.

Market Players Are Consistently Introducing Innovative Products and Aiming Towards Geographic Expansion

To address the market opportunities, companies are developing a long term road map to offer innovative products and enhancements, including customized product design. Systematic execution of the road-map would help the companies to acquire new customers, increase sales, and improve the customer experience. For instance,

• January 2020 - Harman International Industries, Incorporated announced the expansion of its wireless speaker series including some additional form factors. The new product portfolio includes the portable Citation 200 speaker with built-in rechargeable battery and wireless phone charging capabilities. The Harman Kardon Citation Series offers an enhanced in-home listening experience.

Investments in geographic expansion represent a significant growth opportunity in the unnerved countries. The market players intend to expand into countries by initiating country-specific marketing campaigns and distribution channels.

• January 2019 – Apple Inc. announced the availability of Homepod, a wireless speaker from Apple in Hong Kong, and mainland China market. The spatial awareness capabilities of Homepod enable the users to stream music, and audio content from Airplay2 supported apps including iHuman Story, Dragonfly FM, DeDao in mainland China and Spotify, Podcast, KKBOX, and JOOX in Hong KONG.

LIST OF KEY COMPANIES PROFILED:

• Apple, Inc.


• Harman International Industries, Inc.


• Bose Corporation


• Sonos Inc.


• LG Electronics


• Samsung electronics co., LTD


• Sony Corporation


• Amazon.com, Inc.


• DEI Holdings, Inc.


• Altec Lansing

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• August 2019 – Bose Corporation launched its portable home speaker. Bose portable home speaker is a compact ultra-versatile speaker that is battery powered and poses integrated Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and voice control technologies. This speaker can be used outside, around the home or room to room.


• June 2019 – Sony Corporation announced an update to its Extra Bass wireless speaker product portfolio by introducing SRS-XB22 and SRS- XB32 high powered portable speakers. These speakers are complete range speakers that offer enhance vocal clarity.

REPORT COVERAGE

The report offers qualitative and quantitative insights, along with the detailed analysis of market size and growth rate for all possible segments in the market.  Along with this, the report provides an elaborative analysis of market dynamics, emerging trends, and competitive landscape.

Key insights provided in the report are the current trends of wireless speakers by individual segments, recent industry developments such as mergers & acquisitions, consolidated SWOT analysis of key players, partnerships, Porter’s five forces analysis, business strategies of leading market players, key industry trends, macro, and micro-economic indicators.

Report Scope and Segmentation