PORTABLE WIRELESS
PORTABLE WIRELESS SPEAKERS DEVELOPMENT OF DOCKING SPEAKERS SEGMENTS IN EU6* Docking Speakers: Bluetooth speakers drive the growth in the docking speaker segment and generate 91% of the total revenue of 260 million. Devices without wireless connection are losing importance and only generate 5% market share in 2015. *EU6 = DE, ES, FR, GB, IT, NL 4% 1% 10% MARKET Jan-Jun 2013 37% 48% €145,3 million Bluetooth Airplay BT+Airplay+UPNP Other No Wireless 4% 1% 2% 2% 1% 1% Jan-Jun 2014 12% 5% 81% €212,9 million Jan-Jun 2015 91% STATE OF PLAY The wireless audio market is one of the fastest growing segments in consumer electronics. Thanks to technologies like Bluetooth, AirPlay and Wi-Fi, playing music has never been so easy. Portable wireless loudspeakers make listening to music more fun than ever. Now you can enjoy your favourite music on the beach, in the garden or anywhere you like. They also come in all shapes and sizes and that is making them even more interesting for end user. INNOVATIONS TO LOOK FOR AT IFA WATERPROOF At IFA, you can certainly expect many live demos of portable loudspeakers in different types of use. At least one will feature water pouring on them to show they are splashproof. Consumers want products that will last for many years and will not break after one drop of sticky juice. However, this does not mean they are waterproof. An affordable product in this category is the JBL Charge 2+ featuring a high capacity battery and allowing you to charge your phone as well. We can also expect to see a lot of loudspeakers that can float in the water. How cool is that? HIGH QUALITY SOUND As many people already know, Bluetooth was never intended to be a standard for music reproduction. Therefore, a special codec was needed to make full use of the narrow Bluetooth bandwidth. Today aptX is very famous and it can be found in numerous products. In order to enjoy this codec, both sides of music chain (source/smartphone and loudspeaker) must support it. AptX codec is getting widespread on smartphones and also on portable loudspeakers. Anyone who has experienced music “break-up” will know it’s a good idea to look for this in new products. DESIGN Portable loudspeakers with good build quality, attractive design and colour palette to choose from are becoming very fashionable accessory. Loudspeakers made of premium materials like aluminium receive more attention from potential buyers. New players are entering the field of wireless speakers – with new design concepts. An example is the Onkyo brand, which is now marketed in some zones under the Gibson Innovations umbrella, and are coming up with some nice new design ideas. €260,3 million INNOVATING @ IFA CONTACT Martina Huerbinger Marketing Manager Mobile Consumer Electronics GfK Retail and Technology martina.huerbinger@gfk.com THE FUTURE Stereo playback is becoming an endangered species. The vast majority of portable loudspeakers come in small sizes and they are physically limited to reproduction as single point source. DSP can help to create better sound, but it can never replace true stereo. But, consumers want fun – they want loudspeakers easy to carry and easy to use with decent sound quality. The market will grow for sure and hopefully it will give rise to better products at the end of the journey. CHARGE 2+ BY JBL An affordable product in this category is the JBL Charge 2+ featuring a high capacity battery and allowing you to charge your phone as well. » FUNKTURM INDOOR GROUND 100 SRS-X11 BY SONY With compact designs, Sony’s three new wireless speakers (SRS-X11/ SRS-X33/SRS-X55) combine powerful sound quality with Bluetooth / NFC, enabling users to instantly connect their smartphone, tablet or laptop to the speakers and stream… » HALL 20 / STAND 101 With the participation of Ljubiša Miodragovic, Vice-President of EISA » HALL 1.2 / STAND 105 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 4 th September 2015 43
