The revenues of aftermarket mobile accessories — chargers, batteries, headsets, memory cards, and speakers — will be $89 billion in 2022, according to a report by ABI Research.
Aftermarket Bluetooth headsets for smartphones will grow at the fastest rate in terms of both revenue and shipments. Bluetooth headsets shipments are expected to achieve 7 percent CAGR between 2017 and 2022, rising to nearly 563 million in 2022.
“Aftermarket Bluetooth stereo headset shipments and revenues are experiencing steady growth due to the increasing number of companies offering the devices (such as Apple with its AirPods) to give consumers a wireless experience,” says Stephanie Lawrence, research analyst at ABI Research.
ABI Research said some of this increase has been driven by Apple replacing the 3.5mm jack in its iPhones with the Lightning connector. Other vendors move toward excluding the jack in high-end devices in favor of using USB Type C for audio.
Since headsets are not yet provided in-box with these types of connectors, users will have to rely on adaptors or Bluetooth headsets.
