Americans are still shelling out millions of dollars to buy home radio receivers. The Consumer Technology Association forecasts nearly 4.2 million units will be sold this year, and it projects sales of another 4.1 million next year. The total number of receivers sold in 2024 is forecast to drop 1% vs. a year ago. And while the vast majority of receivers are now integrated into other devices, CTA says traditional AM/FM radios will remain part of the home electronics lineup for the foreseeable future.
“In consumer technology, we see long tail products that just come down to a stable number, year over year, because they’re relatively inexpensive to produce. They may only have a few manufacturers in the market, but they cater to a crowd that still wants it. Radio is still out there, and there’s broadcasts, so there’s going to be a need to replace that radio,” says Rick Kowalski, Senior Director of Business Intelligence at CTA. “You definitely have to shop around, but you can find them online and in some of the large retailers.”
The smart speaker has become the home radio for many listeners, but unlike the growth seen during the past several years, CTA sees sales slowing. It estimates the number of home speaker shipments will fall 3% vs. a year ago to 22.3 million units, short of the 22.8 million sold last year.
“The smart home had some huge peaks during the pandemic, and it’s been slowly coming off a lot of those peaks,” Kowalski says. “Smart speakers were certainly a popular category during the pandemic that just rode that smart home wave the past few years. But the market is really stabilizing in 2024, and we’re starting to see regular, more basic refresh rates of all products across the whole industry.”
CTA’s 2023 U.S. Consumer Technology Ownership & Market Potential Study showed that 42% of U.S. households now own a smart speaker.
“In general, we’ve seen adoption of smart speakers stabilize,” Kowalski says. “Those who now buy a smart speaker are upgrading to maybe something that operates better with their smart home system.”
Even as many see an audio renaissance underway, with podcasting and other new content options re-engaging Americans, Kowalski says when it comes to hardware sales, it is product life cycles that matter. Factors like how long a product lasts are key.
CTA sees growth for audio usage. It projects consumers will spend $14.3 billion on subscription audio streaming services this year, a 9% increase from the $13.2 billion of sales in 2023. “We’re still seeing more uptake of that, seeing the mass adoption of streaming audio, and there’s still room for growth,” he says.
More Manufacturers, Lower Prices
CTA projects that despite a third straight year of declines in U.S. hardware revenues, overall retail revenues for the U.S. consumer technology industry will grow 1% in 2024 to $505 billion, followed by 4.4% growth in 2025 to $527 billion. It says over 750 million connected consumer tech devices will ship to the U.S. market this year.
“Technology is deflationary by nature,” Kowalski says. “Value pricing of tech products like TVs, wireless earbuds and gaming hardware is impossible to ignore.”
CTA forecasts overall audio product sales will decline 2.4% year over year in 2024, with total audio sales reaching $17.2 billion. Portable audio devices will make up three-quarters of that total, including things like wireless earbuds and portable wireless speakers. But portable audio sales are expected to dip 2% this year. Kowalski says with a lot more manufacturers making devices like wireless earbuds, it has pushed down prices and led to a deflationary trend in the segment. But sales will be robust. CTA predicts 94.5 million wireless earbuds will ship this year.
“It’s one of the most popular consumer tech devices overall,” Kowalski says. “Second only to smartphones.”
In comparison, home audio sales will dip 2.1% to $4.5 billion. Kowalski says one of the biggest in-home growth areas in recent years has been people upgrading their home theater systems, with CTA forecasting 13.4 million sound bars will ship this year.
Among some of the other home audio devices, CTA forecasts 2.3 million left-right speakers will be shipped, and 3 million turntables will be sold this year — a 1% dip from a year ago. “Turntable shipments will remain quite stable, and if you look at vinyl sales, albums have been selling well,” Kowalski says.
Looking ahead, Kowalski says there is always something new in development that could shake up the audio market. He says manufacturers are especially focused on highly immersive experiences that push the bar, and audio will benefit from a tradition of being a feature that is added to everything from clocks in the 1940s to mobile phones in more recent years.
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