TRUE WIRELESS
TAKES CENTRE-STAGE
True wireless earbuds and headphones are
becoming the most desired form factor for
consumers. So why so popular? By Neil Tyler
Qualcomm’s annual ‘State of
Play’ reports assess the views
of consumers from across the
US, UK, China, Germany, and Japan
looking at consumer attitudes and
behaviours and how they are changing
and driving buying decisions when it
comes to audio technology.
Its latest report, for 2020, has
found that true wireless earbuds have
now become the most desired form
factor among consumers and that
combined with video consumption and
gaming content, together with noise
cancellation, are today’s must-have
features.
True wireless devices are becoming
more popular as they provide complete
freedom for users who are able to
enjoy content in a much wider range of
environments.
The broader wireless speaker
industry is also going through a
period of rapid change, which has
been fuelled by the adoption of cloudbased
voice assistants and smart
speaker adoption - trends which are
accelerating.
Covid-19 has also impacted the
market and economic uncertainty
has made price a more important
consideration, when compared to
findings of previous reports.
Despite some movement in
consumer buying
habits, sound
quality remains the
single most important
factor for audio users and
is the top purchase criterion.
As seen in previous ‘State
of Play’ reports, consumer
demand for ever-longer battery
life has been increasing sharply
year-on-year, as audio enthusiasts
seek to use their devices more often
and for a wider range of applications
– as a consequence truly wireless
earbuds are now expected to deliver
a minimum of nine hours of playback
time before being returned to the
charging case.
The survey also found that
consumers want improved
interoperability between
their wireless earbuds (or
headphones) and their smartphone,
in fact Qualcomm’s research showed
that the issue of smartphone
compatibility was now a purchase
barrier for almost a third of users.
10 13 October 2020 www.newelectronics.co.uk
/www.newelectronics.co.uk