The Growth of the Portable Speakers Market Shows No Signs of Stopping

Posted by Ellen on October 18th, 2017

We have so many devices and ways of listening to music that narrowing it down to one is a challenge in and of itself. If we’re at home, we can get a whole sound system that comes with multiple speakers for multi-room sound, a single powerful speaker, or even portable speakers that move with you from room to room. If we’re on the go, we can opt for a simple earphone/headphone setup or again, a portable speaker. Either way, the point is that music is widely loved everywhere and we all have preferred ways of consuming it.

And because we’re in the 21st Century, AKA the Digital Age, we’re also seeing many advances in technology, like improved Bluetooth capabilities and cloud computing. These advances, combined with our need for simplicity, portability and convenience, are creating a strong driving force behind the demand for a particular type of speaker: portable speakers.

The Growth of the Portable Speakers Market

Let’s start with a global market study on wireless audio devices to get a better idea of just how popular portable speakers actually are. Persistence Market Research, a third-party research firm, conducted the study and published a report on their findings, stating that they’re projected to be the most attractive segment by product type. More specifically, “the portable speakers segment in the global wireless audio device market is estimated to hold a market share of about 46% by the end of 2025.” Going deeper, the segment is projected to see high year-over-year growth between 2017 and 2025, with a CAGR of 10.5% in. In terms of value, it’s expected to grow from .5Bn to .4Bn (North America).

And when we compare them to the market for wireless audio devices as a whole, which is expected to grow with a CAGR of 8.5% between the same time period, we can see that portable speakers are doing even better.

The Force Behind the Growth

So what’s up? What’s going on that’s causing the increase in demand? Well, as we touched on earlier, technology is improving and so is the sound that music players can reproduce. For example, Bluetooth technology has improved drastically over the past 10 years, and the advent of cloud computing and growing popularity of WiFi have brought WiFi speakers into the portable game as well.

But seeing as how North America accounts for ⅓ of the wireless audio devices market in 2016, let’s focus there. Statistically speaking, the region has “high disposable income, widespread Internet connectivity, and a population that is quicker to adopt the latest gadgets and gizmos.” To conclude, it boils down to greater opportunities for usage.

Final Thoughts and TL;DR

What we’re seeing are consumers who want portability. We live in a mobile first world and portable speakers are perfect companions for our beloved smartphones. This is causing an increase for their demand, which is causing brands like Denon to continually improve their speakers with newer and better features like companion mobile app that perfect for ease of use.

And if you’re too busy and just want the highlights, here’s the tl;dr version:

• We have many ways of listening to music
• Out of all wireless audio devices, portable speakers are projected to be the most attractive segment by product type
• Their segment in the global wireless audio device market is estimated to hold a market share of about 46% by the end of 2025
• The same is projected to see high year-over-year growth between 2017 and 2025, with a CAGR of 10.5%
• In terms of value, it’s expected to grow from .5Bn to .4Bn (North America)
• Improvements in technology such as Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity are spurring the growth
• The North American region comprises the majority of consumers opting for portable speakers

Go get yourself a portable speaker, you deserve it.