Global shipments of TWS (true wireless stereo) headsets are likely to grow 40.5% on year to 259 million units in 2021, according to the latest forecast by Digitimes Research.
Apple will remain the top vendor for TWS headsets in the year, accounting for over 40% of market share, Digitimes Research forecasts.
However, Apple may not see its market share continue to grow, given that more rival vendors have rolled out models with comparable hardware and software specifications and yet with higher price/performance ratios.
China-based Realme has recently launched its latest TWS model featuring ANC (active noise cancellation) functionality priced below US$50 in emerging markets. ANC-enabled AirPods Pro was priced at US$249 at launch in 2019.
Established brands now focus on upgrading the audio-visual experience, such as 360-degree surround sound, for their primary models to maintain competitiveness, optimizing their expertise for sound quality control, sensor utilization and algorithm integration.
However, the optimization of power endurance and sound quality are still much desired for TWS devices. These goals can be partly achieved by applying the SiP package process that will allow greater flexibility in using the internal space of TWS devices.
The application of Bluetooth LE (low energy) Audio and LC3 (low complexity communications codec) technologies can significantly improve the power consumption and sound quality, especially for entry-level TWS models.
