Forecast: Personal Audio Fastest-Growing Smart Sector

Analysts at reacher Canalys have projected that more than 3 billion smart devices would ship during 2023, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5% from 2019.

These includes smartphone, desktop PCs, notebooks, tablets, wearable brands, smart speakers and smart personal audio devices.  According to the research firm, this represents an impressive four-year CAGR of 6.5% from 2.4B units in 2019.

In the smartphone sector, vendors expect challenging conditions despite the introduction of 5G and other factors.

"The ambient computing platform is taking shape and getting ready for mass-market roll-out in the next years," said Jason Low, Senior analyst at Canalys.

"Smart devices, especially relatively new categories, such as smart personal audio devices, wearable bands and smart speakers, are forming multiple touchpoints to complete an intelligent ecosystem for consumers. It is becoming apparent to vendors that these devises are important as they offer different opportunities for use interactions and a more holistic approach to the user experience, that cannot be effectively achieves by smartphone alone."