Canalys: Global smart audio device shipments will exceed 500 million units in 2025

According to the latest estimates by Canalys, global shipments of smart personal audio devices (including TWS, wireless earphones and wireless headphones) will reach 455 million units in 2024, an increase of 11.2% year-on-year. Shipments of all product categories have increased, with China and emerging markets (Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa) being the main growth engines.

Canalys research analyst Jack Leathem stressed: "While leading brands maintain stable market positions, their differentiation strategies are increasingly taking shape. In the ecosystem sector, companies like Apple continue to strengthen their competitive advantage through deep hardware-software integration. Apple's in-house chipset enables seamless cross-device connectivity, while integrating spatial audio technology with Apple Music to provide a high-resolution audio experience. At the same time, companies like Xiaomi and Huawei are leveraging their smart ecosystem strategies and the synergy of IoT devices to enhance user experience."

In the mature audio space, Sony, Bose, and Edifier together account for approximately 25% of the wireless headphone market. They prioritize profitability by targeting high-end consumers through advanced audio codecs, high-resolution certification, and strategic streaming partnerships. For example, Edifier partnered with QQ Music to launch a master-level sound quality service, effectively meeting the exclusive expectations of discerning music lovers.

Leathem noted: "Through precise market positioning, emerging brands are rapidly gaining traction. New players such as Shokz and Cleer Audio have successfully penetrated the sports and health sectors through their open designs. Meanwhile, Oladance's breakthrough collaboration with AI Doubao has sparked a surge in translation technology - an approach that has been widely imitated, driving the rapid expansion of products in overseas markets where the demand for cross-language communication is strong. These emerging brands also adopt differentiated pricing strategies to match the purchasing power of local consumers, while quickly launching innovative, region-specific products. From a regional perspective, Greater China leads with a growth rate of 22%, followed by Asia Pacific (19%), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (10%) and Latin America (7%)."

“AI is redefining the boundaries of smart personal audio capabilities, with nearly every manufacturer exploring new applications for AI,” said Cynthia Chen, research manager at Canalys. “However, some key challenges remain before these solutions can achieve large-scale commercial adoption.”

At present, the exploration of artificial intelligence in intelligent audio mainly focuses on three aspects:

• Health Monitoring: Leading brands are integrating AI-driven hearing assessment and posture detection in their flagship products, using biosensors and algorithms to facilitate proactive health management.
• Adaptive audio technology: Multimodal sensor-based scene recognition is advancing dynamic audio adjustments such as intelligent noise reduction and adaptive spatial audio to enhance the user experience in challenging acoustic environments.
• Real-time translation: Real-time translation is becoming more common as these features expand into mid-range products, prompting manufacturers to further explore the integration of AI with smart audio devices.

The effective application of artificial intelligence must be based on in-depth analysis of user behavior data and focus on solving the core pain points of specific scenarios rather than just adding functionality.

Canalys predicts that global shipments of smart audio devices will exceed 500 million by 2025, reflecting a cautiously optimistic outlook. In the short term, the market is expected to witness active players and exhibit three key trends:

• There has been a surge in innovative products with novel features and designs.
• Increase cross-brand collaboration and build a broader ecosystem.
• A market shift from adding isolated features to enhancing the overall user experience.

In the long run, manufacturers must develop a comprehensive competitive strategy, including technology development (including acoustic components, chips, algorithms, etc.), establish ecosystem partnerships consistent with business models, and target specific application scenarios. Converting AI-driven technological advantages into tangible user benefits will be the key to shaping the future market landscape.