$100+ Headphones Sell More Than $342M in 2011

As this week marks another Consumer Electronics Show, one trend that is sure to continue from last year's CES and CEDIA tradeshows is the increasing amount of headphones on the market.

While much attention is given to other components or high-resolution content that's renewing music lovers' interest in a higher-quality experience over MP3 and other compressed formats, the influx of headphones over the last year or so is notable.

NPD Group's Retail Tracking Service recently observed that sales of headphones priced $100 or above accounted for $342 million through November of 2011 (and presumably a few were gifted and received over the holidays).

That's still not a very big number in the world of headphones, considering the ubiquitous low-price earbuds, but it did double the unit share over 2010 to 6 percent, says the NPD Group.

Any CE pro who attended CEDIA or CES in 2011 saw more traditional audio component and speaker manufacturers, like Paradigm, PSB Speakers and B&W, joining the headphone fray with models that cater to listeners that lean more to the "audiophile" side of the spectrum.

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“With the increase in mobile device ownership and the plethora of digital content options, it is no surprise that the headphones category as a whole has exhibited growth this year when other key CE categories have not,” says Ben Arnold, director of industry analysis at NPD. “As expected, consumers have begun to look for better quality audio listening devices to go with all of the music, video, and other content they’ve collected.

“Manufacturers have begun to market sound quality to consumers as a way to differentiate more premium products” Arnold adds. “The growth in the $100+ price segment shows buyers have responded to this trend. That said, well known brands and celebrity or musician endorsements have been successful too in raising the profile of many headphone products.”

The NPD figures also show that 54 percent of consumers say brand is a key factor, and 48 percent pointed to sound quality as "extremely important" or "very important" to their headphone-buying decision. Both of those numbers seem positive for those companies not named Bose or Sony, for example, trying to attract consumers, as well as custom electronics pros trying to include headphones as value-adds to home A/V install.

Another aspect that Arnold notes is that a quarter of the $100-plus headphone buyers are under the age of 24, which is an increase from 13 percent in 2010. That bodes well for companies and integrators seeking out younger clientele that want an upgraded experience over earbuds.

The young crowd might not have enough money saved up for home automation, but perhaps like their parents did in the 1960s and '70s they are putting money into hi-fi for their apartments and dorms, and that includes better headphones too.