TWS headphones continue to be hot, and the market reshuffle is coming

Apple inc. 's TWS AirPods Pro has been selling briskly since its launch in October. In November, apple asked its core supplier, li xun precision, to double the capacity of its AirPods Pro factory in China from 1m units to 2m. AirPods were sold out in the U.S. in December, while products on the Chinese website won't be shipped until January 2020. Apple is unquestionably the market leader in TWS headsets.

Apple blew up, and android followed suit

TWS (TrueWirelessStereo). The TWS headset fully realizes the cordless wireless structure design. Technically speaking, it means that the mobile phone is connected to the main headset, and then the main headset is quickly connected to the pair of headphones through wireless means. The stereo system is composed of the left and right earphones through bluetooth, realizing the real wireless separation of the left and right sound channels of bluetooth.

In 2016, bluetooth technology alliance put forward bluetooth 5.0. The features of bluetooth technology under this standard include low power consumption, fast transmission speed, long effective working distance and other advantages, laying the foundation for the rise of TWS earphones. In September of that year, apple scrapped the iPhone7's 3.5mm port and released the first generation of AirPods to make the phone thinner. In subsequent iphone models, the absence of a bluetooth headset means you can't use the headset and charge it at the same time.

As the leader of the consumer electronics market, the launch of each category of products has touched the hearts of countless people. AirPods were quickly welcomed by consumers and led to rapid growth in the market. According to Runto, about 12 million TWS headphones were sold in China in 2018, up 85% year on year. Compared with traditional bluetooth earphones, TWS earphones have the advantage of being truly wireless, freeing up hands completely, and being small and portable.

After apple exploded the market, android manufacturers such as huawei, xiaomi, OPPO and vivo also released TWS headsets. In addition to mobile phone manufacturers, SONY, Bose, rambler, JBL and other traditional audio manufacturers, 1MORE, go out to ask and other start-ups poured in, presenting a situation of a hundred competing in the market.

High and low players coexist, the market is facing reshuffle

From the perspective of brand positioning, high and low-end players coexist in the TWS headset market. High-end players above 1000 yuan are represented by international manufacturers such as apple, SONY, samsung, Bose and bird. Domestic brands are also pushing ahead. In September, huawei released a 1,199 yuan TWS headset -- huawei Freebuds 3. Vivo also launched a 999 yuan Earphone.

The number of mid-end players in the 100-yuan level is the largest. Brands like huawei, honor, OPPO, xiaomi, lenovo, JBL, go out to ask, 1More and rambler are listed, and the products are mainly priced at 200-500 yuan.

The low-end players below 100 yuan are xiaomi, QCY, xia xin and other brands, whose products focus on high cost performance. The other is the "high imitation Airpods" copycat manufacturers, whose products are priced at 50-99 yuan, with a few products as low as 19.9 yuan and 29.9 yuan.

The main reason for the huge difference in TWS headphone prices lies in the chip. Robin, an analyst at lotte technology, said that the main control chip is the component that has the biggest impact on the basic performance of TWS headphone. Currently, the price of high-end chip (qualcomm) is 15 yuan per pair, while the price of low-end chip (Gerry, MTK roda, hengshiuan and reyu) is about 4 yuan per pair.

The TWS headphone market will continue to grow at a rapid pace, with Runto predicting 21.5 million TWS headphone sales in 2019, up 79% from a year earlier. At present, the TWS headset market has a low brand identity, so shanzhai manufacturers can gain a foothold in the market through low prices. With the entry of more and more brand manufacturers and the improvement of consumer demand for product experience, the survival space of shanzhai manufacturers lacking core technology will be squeezed, and the market reshuffle is coming.

Based on the advanced data acquisition technology and supply chain industrial resources of lotto, Runto IoT retail BG provides enterprises with market monitoring data and special research services including smart projection, smart speaker, smart door lock, TWS headset and many other smart products.