Shokz Says Open-Ear Earphones Are Going Mainstream, Reaching 17% Global Share

Open-ear earphones are moving beyond the sports market and into everyday listening, according to findings presented by Shokz at IFA 2026 in Berlin.

The company worked with market research firm NielsenIQ on an analysis of global distribution data and a survey of more than 5,000 consumers in South Korea, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. NielsenIQ said open-ear products accounted for 60 million of the 353 million earphones distributed over the past year in markets excluding North America and Russia, giving them about 17% of sales.

The category recorded strong revenue growth in the first half of the year. Western Europe rose 77% from a year earlier, while major Asian markets grew 47%. Some emerging markets, including parts of Latin America, posted growth of more than 160%.

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Open-ear audio is the fastest-growing segment in the audio market, and as listening time expands across the day, consumers are valuing comfort and the ability to remain aware of their surroundings beyond sound quality.

The expansion was not driven only by low-cost products. Shokz said reasonably priced premium devices led the growth, as consumers placed greater value on the wearing experience offered by designs that do not block the ears. Revenue growth continued to outpace unit growth.

Usage is also spreading beyond outdoor exercise. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they wore open-ear devices while exercising, followed by commuting at 45%, public places at 37% and home settings at 30%. Sixty-four percent wore them for more than two hours a day, and 51% of users were under 35.

Comfort ranked as the most important purchase factor, cited by 28% of respondents, ahead of sound quality at 19%. AI functions remain less established: 48% said they had no experience using them, although respondents showed interest in practical features such as real-time translation and voice assistants. NielsenIQ director Sarah Bartz said consumers increasingly valued comfort and awareness of surrounding sounds as listening time expanded.

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Open-ear audio devices are establishing themselves as a universal way of listening rather than products for specific activities.