Hearables’ Shipments to Exceed 200 Million Globally by 2024

The hearables’ shipments will exceed 200 million units by 2024, up from 165 million in 2022; representing total growth of 30% over the next two years, according to Juniper Research. The report identified the assistive and healthcare-focused hearables segments as key to this growth.

These devices facilitate proactive management of hearing loss and other medical conditions; enabling long-term care cost savings compared to traditional therapies. As such, it anticipates that these segments will comprise 18% of hearables’ shipments by 2024, compared to 12% in 2021.

The new research also highlighted that the growing implementation of ‘right to repair’ legislation has the potential to limit future hearables’ shipments. To overcome this, it recommends that vendors leverage the growing capabilities of digital voice assistants to address emerging hearables use cases, including industrial monitoring, and productivity enhancement, to expand revenue streams and capture early market share.

The report forecasts that the US and Germany will grow to account for 50% of total hardware revenue from emerging hearables use cases by 2024. It highlighted high levels of industrial digitalization, allied with widespread connectivity and ubiquitous consumer devices, as key to these countries’ positions as leaders. The new report also identified Apple as leading the hearables market.

“Our research anticipates sustainability initiatives will impact future hearables’ shipments, meaning vendors must target product comprehensiveness, rather than specificity, to attract consumers. We have ranked Apple as an established leader due to its expansive, differentiated offerings; comprising high-quality audio with advanced assistive and healthcare-focused technologies that leverage its existing partnerships with stakeholders across the value chain in established and emerging use cases,“ explained research author Adam Wears.