The last two days have seen two high-end headphone manufacturers release brand new over-the-ear headphones. Firstly, Focal, who have announced the world’s first beryllium headphones retailing for $4999. Alongside this, Meze Audio have released a more affordable high-end pair of open back headphones priced at $799.
SAR believes that these new releases are interesting as there are rumours of the TWS market reaching saturation with more interest returning for on ear and fully enclosed headphones.
Currently SAR estimates that the TWS market is shipping just over 300 million devices per year, however, the growth curve is expected to begin to round off at around 500 million shipments in 2027. This estimate has dropped since last quarter due to growing fears of a recession through 2023. Growing interest in headband headphones could explain the numerous new headphones that are coming to market more recently, alongside a anticipated slow in the adoption of TWS earbuds.
