TWS: Untangling Lives
With truly wireless earphones making rapid inroads into our lifestyle and bringing about a paradigm shift in the way people listen to music or talk to someone over phone, one thing is for sure that it’s going to further bring a positive impact on the electronics industry – thanks to the increasing adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices.
Earphones have always been a phone’s best companion, and like the latter, the ear-worn devices have undergone a massive change from a wired one to wireless and now the truly wireless, often referred to as TWS (true wireless stereo). The introduction of true wireless earphones, or say earbuds has brought about a paradigm shift in the way people listen to their music or talk to someone over phone. These earbuds provide a user with a tangle-free experience, as there is no wire connecting the left and right earpieces. The earbuds are compact and can be carried around in a charging case, making them extremely portable. The styling and portability of these products have made them popular among the young folks, athletes and fitness enthusiasts.
So before moving further, let’s understand how TWS technology works. Just like traditional wireless headphones, true wireless headphones receive a Bluetooth signal from your phone via a 2.4GHZ wavelength. The path of transfer renders your phone a transmitter and the earbuds receivers. Unlike typical wireless earphones – which receive the signal simultaneously since the earbuds are connected by wire – truly wireless earbuds designate one earbud as the primary receiver, and the other becomes the secondary receiver.
Trends
With such gradual modifications, the means of consumption of content has also evolved, thus redefining our listening experience with the touch of a button which has multi-functional controls nowadays. Earlier, headphones were single-sided heavy speakers which were to be held onto one ear to communicate. This has slowly evolved to the neckband design which came in the early 2000. “While headphones remain a popular category, brands also started focusing on earphones as it was portable and easy to carry, along with great sound quality,” said Kapil Gulati, Director, Consumer Segment, Sennheiser India, in a recent column/blog.
“Being truly wireless is the major factor for its growth. It’s much more convenient for your usage and movement, without the obstacles caused by the wires. All that time spent in untangling the earphone wires, before you can listen to music is passé now. Along with that the affordability created by the new entrants is also driving the growth,” said
Ajesh George, MD, RAEGR, a Bengaluru-based consumer lifestyle technology brand.
Gopal Jeyaraj, Head (India & SAARC), Anker Innovations, said, “In India, the technology market has been very dynamic. Initially, when Airpods were launched, it was not very well accepted in the Indian markets. However, over a period of time, it not only became a trend but also a high utility tech accessory, even for professionals.”
Earlier, the TWS was not very advanced; having less battery, limited talk-time, less playback time. But now, the advancement in technology has introduced more charging capacity in TWS. “In fact, in one of our Soundcore TWS products we are offering 100 hours playtime. The product if charged for one time lasts for almost a week even if it is used for 6-7 hours per day. Moreover, the cost factor has also become very competitive and aggressive. The attractive price points today make the customer opt for TWS over other headphones,” said Jeyraj.
The trend of TWS earphones is catching up in such a manner that it has become a big market for companies – handset as well as accessories makers – to rake in moolah. Even when the entire country is struggling to be on the track in the aftermath of COVID-19 lockdown and businesses have been at an all-time low, the TWS hearables market is growing like never before. These wireless earbuds are indeed revolutionizing the entire industry. “The smartphone makers are now doing away with the 3.5 mm headphone jack to make wireless headphones more convenient and appealing to customers. People are now looking for seamless and hassle-free immersive audio experience, thereby creating a need for the technologically superior truly wireless earbuds,” said
Gulati.
“The TWS earphones
have seen a surge after Apple launched the Airpods and that trend has caught up in India as well. Now the sector is getting hotter with the entry of TWS models from phone makers like Oppo, Mi, Realme and Oneplus. Sony also has joined the bandwagon along with others like Sennheiser and Jabra,” said George.
According to a recent report by International Data Corporation, truly wireless stereo (TWS) accounted for 23.1% to the overall earwear category. TWS alone grew at 300.7% YOY. “The earwear category is witnessing a major shift from wired to wireless devices. The lockdown which led to growing need of working from home and also, increased the entertainment consumption, has further accelerated the shift to wireless devices,” said Anisha Dumbre, Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India. “These devices not only help to reduce outside noise while users are taking virtual meetings but also help them to stay connected without any wires,” Dumbre added.
IDC says that with 3 million earwear devices shipped in the first quarter of the year, the earwear category witnessed a triple-digit YOY growth in 1Q20. Boat led the segment with a 23.9% share, competing very closely with Samsung, which includes devices from Samsung, Infinity and JBL, with a 23.6% share in this category. Samsung surpassed Apple in the truly wireless stereo category with a 29.8% market share mainly because of its newly-launched Galaxy Buds Plus, Apple finished second with 15.7% market share in this category.
Thanks to the TWS segment, the global earphones market size was valued at USD 25.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3% from 2020 to 2027. Rising consumer preference for enhanced audio experience, growing music industry, coupled with mobile technology and internet penetration, are some of the primary factors driving the market, says Grand View Research in a report.
Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst at techarc, said, “The market is among one of the categories within accessories, which is growing exponentially across price segments. Owing to this, nearly every smartphone OEM has now launched its own TWS. Indeed, music
and now calls due to work-from-home have become very important use cases of a smartphone, and TWS creates that personal space for a user even within home environment. Many of the people use living rooms and shared rooms to operate during working from home.”
Overall, the shipments for TWS have grown by 700% in India, as per Counterpoint Research. Considering that, the Indian markets largely remain untapped for TWS, the segment holds strong growth potential and also opportunities for existing and new players.
This sector is innovating regularly. On a monthly basis, new technological advancements are happening in the TWS segment. “Active Noise Cancellation introduced by Apple Airpods Pro has now made the competitors focus on this technology. Also, there are improvements happening on the chipsets, battery life and the aesthetics. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live is a great example of creative aesthetics,” said George.
According to Grand View Research, technology developments are primarily driven by surging consumer demand for style and high-fidelity. Introduction of advanced features like active noise cancellation (ANC) and near field communication (NFC) is expected to offer a user with enhanced listening experience and fluidity in connectivity with their music devices. For instance, presence of ANC technology in earphones and headphones eliminates the background noise, thus improving sound quality. NFC establishes the connection between the wireless headphones and music device by just tapping them to each other. Suchadvanced features are anticipated to fuel the market growth.
Usage of earphones and headphones for fitness activities under various environmental conditions, like rain and dust, has propelled the manufacturers to add durability to their products. Several companies have manufactured their products with a certain (ingress protection) IPX rating, which is a safety rating to offer protection against dust and water. For example, IPX1 rated device is resistant to water droplets and can be dripped with water for 10 minutes. The level of protection ranges from the number 0 to 9 and increases with the highest level being IPX9, which offers protection against the spray of water from a highpressure nozzle. Similarly, in the case of dust, the rating ranges from IP0X to IP6X, with IP6X being the highest. In some cases, the product may be resistant against both dust and water. For instance, products with an IP57 rating are dust tight and water resistant to high pressure sprays. Presence of such useful features and some significant development in product technology is expected to keep the products in demand over the next few years.
“The fact that the upcoming wireless earbuds have evolved with longer battery life, better Bluetooth compatibility, enhanced audio quality, and ANC for noise free listening- due to which this segment is increasingly making it one of the favourite gadget categories amongst consumers. People are willing to pay more for a superior/premium sound experience,” said Gulati.
Bottom line
With TWS earphones making rapid inroads into our today’s lifestyle driven digitally with superior audio quality, long battery, sweat-proof, customised fitting for a more comfortable experience; one thing is for sure that it’s going to further bring a positive impact on the industry – thanks to the increasing popularity and adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices. ■
ramesh@mymobile.co.in