Key questions answered about the $25bn hearables market

This growth is driven primarily by the true wireless headphones category; led by Apple, this area has grown from nothing to be worth an expected $11bn in 2020.

Summary of the market share and major product types for hearables in 2019. Source: IDTechEx report, 'Hearables 2020-2030: Technology, Players and Forecasts'

Hearables are wireless electronic products worn in, on and around the ear, including products such as true wireless headphones, hearing aids, cochlear implants and a range of related and new product types.

The report looks at each of these products in turn, assessing the key industry trends unfolding today, and providing a perspective on the key challenges facing the sector as it grows, for example:

• How will the implementation of the 2017 Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act in the US impact the hearing assistance industry, including both traditional hearing aid players and any other players that may release OTC products?
• After two years of frantic development to develop and release true wireless headphone products, how long can the aggressive growth in this industry continue, and can anybody challenge Apple’s dominance?
• What impact will the adoption of new and existing technology options that can enable health monitoring via ear-worn products have on existing products in the sector and the wider product ecosystems around health monitoring (in both a fitness/wellness and medical context)?
• Which areas of technology development are most likely to successfully shape the next generations of hearables products, and which are likely to have minimal impact or fail?

In order to answer these big questions, the report looks at a 20-year period for the industry, with historic data from 2010-2019 and then market forecasts from 2020-2030. It includes primary research in the form of interviews with more than 20 prominent companies in the space, ranging from players such as Bose, Starkey, Widex, Oticon and Sonova, through to technology players such as Valencell, Well Being Digital and RelaJet, to prominent startups such as Nuheara, Olive Union, and more.

It is then backed up with secondary research covering a total of more than 60 companies from throughout the value chain in order to have a full representation of this industry.