In the wake of my previous editorial about the state of the audio economy, which is now available online here, I was questioned about my comments about the lack of relevant, credible market research addressing audio product categories. I wrote that previously (prior to the pandemic) there used to be some helpful sources, which seem to have vanished. All the researchers have either retired or are apparently now invested in more profitable activities (or all have been hired by a mysterious crime syndicate, I don't know).

We recognize that there are credible agencies and research firms that continue to develop worthwhile work to obtain market data - we know a few of those and we quote them as much as possible when appropriate. Not by coincidence, the ones that produce more relevant work for the audio industry are relatively small operations, that restrict their research to a handful of sectors and product segments, specializing their scope. Unfortunately, we also see many of the large more reputable agencies falling into the temptation of outsourcing reports, resulting in abundant output of questionable data.

Interestingly, I received some comments about the apparently profuse production of "market intelligence" that creates the perception that there is plenty of research being conducted on all fronts. And more importantly, research that is directly reflected in popular services, such as those provided by Statista - the online platform specialized in data gathering and visualization - or the results provided by popular search engines, now boosted directly by generative AI models for even more "creativity."

Ask any search engine about "global headphones sales" and, sure enough, we will get very recent reports from companies such as Business Insights, Research and Markets, Expert Market Research, Grand View Research, Market Reports, The Insight Partners, Research Nester, and dozens more names (that change regularly but are actually the same sources, mostly with fake addresses in the United States and UK, but always with offices somewhere in India).

With that query, we immediately learned that "Global Earphones and Headphones Market to Reach US$33.4 Billion by the Year 2026." Hold on, no, actually "The global earphones and headphones market size was valued at USD 58,259.2 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6% from 2023 to 2030." No, forget that. Actually, "The global Earphones and Headphones Market size was valued at USD 24.81 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 129.26 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 20.13% (2022-2030)."

We also learned that "A set of portable speakers known as headphones is worn by a user over the ears, on the head, or both." Even ChatGPT would be ashamed. And because we will need a graphic, we can just visit Statista, where we will learn that the Headphones market amounts to USD $17.56 billion in 2023, is expected to grow annually by 2.42% (CAGR 2023-2028) and there will be 1.32 billion units sold by 2028.

Or we can dive into the Headphones Market in the US to find out it's basically a steady growth curve all the time. Great market to be in. But you want to be selling earphones and not headphones, which are a very tiny percentage, according to Grand View Research, a firm registered in San Francisco, CA, that is actually headquartered in India.

And if we ask about "speaker drivers" as a more specific component category - which includes headphone drivers - we learn that the Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 was already $29.22 billion and is forecasted to reach $34.57 billion by 2027. Not very impressive for all the companies in the segment, considering that the Smart Speakers market alone is worth $39.3 billion USD by 2025, according also to Grand View Research.

I think by now you get my point. But I'll explore and comment on an actual press release that we received in audioXpress about the global consumer electronics (CE) market.

The global consumer electronics (CE) market is valued at 379 billion or 990 billion USD, depending on who you ask and what categories are included in those estimates. According to market research firm Technavio, the CE market size is expected to grow by USD 110.31 billion during the next five years. As per the company's latest report, the market will progress at a CAGR of 4.85% during 2022-2027, corresponding to a current business volume around 440 billion USD.

Before 2020, the CE global market was registering a CAGR above 8%, according to multiple market research firms that also valued global CE business volumes at twice the value that Technavio considers - but again, we don't know exactly what product categories are considered between the multiple market studies.

As Technavio predicts, the "rising popularity of online channels" is a primary trend in the consumer electronics market during the forecast period, as the number of smartphone users is accelerating Internet penetration globally. It's true that in Asia, particularly in China, there are already two generations of users who didn't even use computers and freely accept the concept of buying anything on a smartphone app or browser. In the US and Europe, smartphones are (wisely) still not trusted for shopping expensive items, being primarily used for smaller transactions such as food and drinks. Generalizing growth trends in the CE market as directly connected to shopping on mobile platforms is not very credible and signals that the report was likely written from an Asian perspective.

According to Technavio, there is "a significant transformation in the consumer electronics landscape due to the growing preference for online shopping among consumers." Furthermore, the research firm highlights how the introduction of 4G and 5G impacted growth in the CE space. "Due to the significant shift to online retailing, it offers vendors several opportunities in the consumer electronics market. The main advantage of online retailing is that it helps them to earn more revenue via their own web portals. Thus, the shift in lifestyle and rising disposable income is expected to drive the consumer electronics market growth during the forecast period." Again, not a very credible perspective with association of unrelated facts.

As key growth drivers Technavio indicates: "Innovation and product launches drive the consumer electronics market growth during the forecast period. Several vendors in the market are launching new products with advanced features in the consumer electronics segment to sustain the market. The main advantage of these frequent product launches is that the vendors can cater to growing consumer demand based on different demographics."

It seems market research firms are using ChatGPT to write these introductions. Would it be possible to register global growth without "product launches"?

Then Technavio adds: "There is always a demand for consumer products such as laptops and smartphones speaker, which have additional features in the market. For example, in January 2023, Apple Inc. launched MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max." And concluding, "Hence, such product launches are expected to drive the consumer electronics market growth during the forecast period."

So, laptops are considered in this firm's CE market classification, which bears the question, if more reputed market research firms like Canalys (at least they used to be) published reports that valued global PC shipments as surpassing 340 million units or 250 billion USD in 2021 (a major year for PC sales due to the pandemic), this would mean that every other CE product categories combined would represent less than 200 billion in sales.

It seems we have a problem. All the market research we consulted that analyzed the global kitchen appliances market values that specific category between 237 billion and 376 billion USD in the year 2021. Unless kitchen appliances are not considered consumer electronics?

To better understand what Technavio includes in the CE global market report, let's look at the main list of vendors mentioned. And indeed, we see Apple, HP, and Dell Technologies, as well as Emerson Electric, Frigidaire, Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing, OPPO Mobile, Haier, Hisense, Huawei, Philips, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Robert Bosch, Samsung, Sony, Whirlpool, and Fujitsu. All listed as "some of the major market participants." So, yes, kitchen appliances are included in the CE market report.

Because television sales is a well-documented space, and we can also find reports detailing the global television market size valued at USD 259.16 billion in 2021 (the US market alone valued at 43 billion USD). This would mean that, adding kitchen appliances and TV sales alone we would already be at a 500 billion USD value. And we still need to look at annual sales of every other (obvious) CE product category, from headphones and speakers, to toys, cameras, and gaming consoles. Even before we debate how much of the mobile industry sales volumes should be considered in the CE space, smartphones are obviously a consumer product.

So, what exactly can we consider in this global consumer electronics (CE) market report? We can easily find ambiguities in the classification of in-car systems or photography products, or any other product category described as "consumer electronics." "In-car systems" blurs after-market purchases of car audio, navigation, or assistive systems like rear cameras, and sales of factory-installed "infotainment" add-ons. "Photography" should be divided into a range of consumer and professional products and services - with the "pro" sector alone estimated to generate a global business worth 44 billion USD. If business volumes from camera manufacturers such as Canon are included (annual sales of 28 billion USD in 2022) (and Technavio says they are), can you separate what can be clearly labeled as CE from everything else that Canon sells (printers, print supplies, medical and industrial products, etc.)? And if we just consider its Imaging Business Unit (valued at 5 billion USD in sales in 2022), can we separate professional systems that include broadcast and cinema lenses from consumer?

Yes, all market research firms face these very classification obstacles when processing the data - necessarily provided by the companies that are contacted and voluntarily provide the numbers. But that bears the question. Did anyone ask them? The readers of this newsletter know the answer.

For quite some time audioXpress planned to do this review and postponed it in anticipation that a new major upgrade would be introduced. After all, this creation of Canadian software designer Chris Liscio was sold to Røde in 2018. This macOS audio measurement software is now the very first product of the new RødeTest division of Røde Microphones, a subsidiary of Freedman Electronics, also the owner of Aphex, Event Electronics, and SoundField brands and a global pro audio powerhouse. We are glad we did the review, because the available version 4.0 of FuzzMeasure is a solid tool for many applications, and deserves to be recognized. "FuzzMeasure is known for its high-quality graphs and for tucking an immense amount of control into a sleek, minimal interface," audioXpress reviewer Luke McCready writes, confirming how useful this software could be in setting up his home studio space. This article was originally published in audioXpress, May 2020. Read the Full Article Now Available Here

SB Audience, the pro audio brand of Sinar Baja Electric and SB Acoustics, has released six new compression drivers — four with Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK) diaphragms and two with titanium. For this Test Bench explication, the SB Audience Rosso 44CDN-PK is combined with the H250 90°×60° exponential horn. The driver features a 44.3mm (1.75") diameter voice coil driving a single piece PEEK diaphragm and surround, and including a FEA-optimized neodymium ring magnet motor structure, annular phase plug design, and a cast-aluminum damped rear chamber. This driver has a 60W AES power handling rating (120W maximum), with a 1.8kHz recommended crossover frequency. The 90°×90° H250 horn that accompanied the 44CDN-PK is a constant directivity category device made from injection-molded ABS with a 600Hz cut-off frequency. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2023.  Read the Full Article Now Available Here