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12th November 2004 - A recent survey of In-Stat/MDR's
Technology Adoption Panel indicates solid, positive
potential for Bluetooth stereo headphones/headsets.
To date, the emphasis has been on mono headsets
used for mobile phones. This has been primarily
driven by HandsFree regulations and the movement
toward the safety and convenience of cordless
headsets. The emerging headsets that are just
about to begin making splashes in retail are
stereo headphones for listening to music, as
well as for receiving/making phone calls.
However, this growth potential is tempered
by the challenge of providing such a product
for a low price. Consumers also need to be aware
that the true product differentiator in a Bluetooth
version of cordless headphones is the advantage
of using a worldwide standard that has the ability
to multi-task and be usable with many devices
that have embedded Bluetooth, such as making
mobile phone calls and listening to MP3 music
from a laptop or other source.
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In-Stat/MDR has also found that:
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Although supply for Bluetooth headsets
in Europe essentially cannot keep up with demand,
the US market has been slow, due primarily to the
availability of Bluetooth mobile phones, and lack
of promotion by operators to emphasize the consumer
benefits of Bluetooth headsets.
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In 2004, headset shipments have
risen due to higher demand than expected in Europe.
In 2005-2008 In-Stat/MDR expects a rise in Bluetooth-enabled
mobile phone availability in the US by operators
that have not offered them to date, such as Verizon.
In-Stat/MDR's worldwide forecast for Bluetooth mono
headsets in 2004 and through 2008 has been increased
significantly.
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Products this year that have complied
with Bluetooth 1.2, which includes the Adaptive
Frequency Hopping (AFH) profile, are primarily headsets,
PDAs, and other computing devices; only a few 1.2
mobile phones have been qualified so far.
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The Bluetooth chipset market will
slightly more than double from 2003 to 2004, to
146 million units. This is directly following a
year when the market almost doubled, from 2002 to
2003.
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