According to Futuresource Consulting 2013 headphone shipments are to grow by 9% from 2012 to reach 284 million units, with revenues forecast to be worth $8.2 billion.
"The headphones market is highly fragmented and increasingly competitive, with new brands continuing to emerge across all price categories," the analyst says. "Traditional headphones brands Philips, Sony, JVC, Sennheiser and Skullcandy combined accounted for 45% of global headphones shipments in 2012 and in terms of value, Beats by Dr. Dre has captured 23% of global revenues."
The analyst predicts headphone sales will flatten by 2017, as the market should saturate at one set per 6.6 audio devices in use. Many customers also rely on headphones bundled with devices.
Meanwhile global headphone retail value wil grow at a CAGR of 5% during the 2013-2017 period thanks to growing ASPs and strong demand for premium over-ear models from brands such as Beats by Dre.
The over-ear category accounts for 44% of 2012 global revenues-- share expected to reach 52% by 2017. In-ear headphones dominate the market in terms of volume, even if the more expensive on- and over-ear segment is growing in share.
Microphones are another growing headphone trend. Futuresources predicts 41% of 2017 shipments will carry microphones, even if such convergence is unpopular in some countries, including Germany.
CE retailers account for 38% of channel sales, but according to the analyst telecoms channels should grow from 2013 onwards, with more vendors using mobile specialists to distribute AV headphones.