Audio Streaming Over Soundbars on Rise as More Connected Products Hit Market
Fifty-five percent of soundbar owners use their speakers for music or other audio-related content in addition to using them to improve the sound from flat TVs, a report from NPD said. Some 36 percent of soundbar owners are connecting at…
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least one portable device to their units, as an increasing number of soundbars pack the ability to connect and stream, NPD said. The report said 23 percent of consumers connect their smartphones to a soundbar, 16 percent connect to a tablet or notebook PC and 12 percent connect a soundbar to an iPod. “Soundbars have been around for nearly a decade, and we are still seeing significant momentum in the market,” NPD analyst Ben Arnold said. Bluetooth has helped to drive interest, sales and usage in soundbar audio playback, especially among millennials, who account for 44 percent of all audio hardware spending. That's up from 35 percent a year ago, NPD said. Millennials spend more than $300 million annually on soundbars, which are among the top three audio spends by 25-34-year-olds, Arnold said. Two-thirds of millennials use a soundbar to listen to music or podcasts when they’re not watching TV, NPD said. More than 6,000 U.S. consumers were surveyed from NPD’s online panel in Q1, and roughly 750 were soundbar owners, the researcher said.