Demand for wireless models doubled; Singapore is biggest market
The popularity of smart connected devices are spurring strong demand for complementary accessories such as cradle docking and wireless speakers. GfK retail audit for these
products in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia reported a substantial spike in overall sales volume and value by 79 and 29 percent during January to July this year compared to last year.
Among these four Southeast Asian countries, Singapore and Malaysia have been the first and second highest contributing markets in both volume and value sales so far this year. In the first seven months of 2014, Singaporeans snapped up more than twice (153%) the number of portable docking speakers over the same period last year, overtaking Malaysia as the market with the highest sales volume.
“Even though consumers in Singapore bought less docking and wireless speakers than their Malaysian counterparts last year, the total revenue generated was higher due to the greater demand here for higher-end products,” highlighted Gerard Tan, Account Director for Digital World at GfK. “With the continuing uptrend towards more premium models, Singapore has emerged the biggest market for docking and wireless speakers, almost doubling (92%) its market value compared to a year ago.”
The surging demand, especially for wireless speakers, has brought about an outstanding threefold growth (201%) in sales volume in across the four countries and generated two and a half times more revenue over last year. Every single one reflected increased volume sales for wireless speakers in the triple digit range of 143 to 423 percent, contributing to its 33 percent incremental rise in the total cradle docking and portable wireless speaker market. Singapore remained as the biggest market for the product, accounting for over two-fifth of total wireless speaker volume sales.
“Wireless speakers are gaining ground as today’s time strapped consumers value products which are able to bring convenience and simplicity in life,” said Tan. “The Bluetooth function of these cable free devices which allows for instant, fuss free connectivity takes away the hassle that exists in wired devices—definitely a more attractive option given the almost on par price tag.”
Intensifying competition between the rising numbers of players in the markets has driven down the price of wireless speakers considerably in the past one year. According to GfK tracking across the four countries, there has been more than twofold (141%) increase in available model—from 122 last year to 294 this year; from 54 to 88 brands. This has correspondingly reduced the average selling price of wireless speaker’s by 18 percent to USD87.
“Given that the penetration of smart mobile devices in developing Asia still has some way to go before hitting saturation level, there is still significant potential in the cradle docking and wireless speaker market,” said Tan. “We are likely to see demand jump exponentially in the less developed markets where a bigger growth spurt for these products are expected in the near future,” he concluded.
