The rise of domestic headphone brands and the future outlook of AI technology
At the dawn of the 21st century, China’s manufacturing industry gradually woke up like a sleeping lion, showing its strong productivity and innovation. In this context, domestic headphone brands have also begun their gorgeous transformation. From the initial foundry younger brother, to now in the international market with SONY, Bose and other big players equal, the rise of domestic headphones brand road is full of hardships and brilliance.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, domestic headphone brands have begun their OEM career to provide high-quality manufacturing services for international brands. However, with the changes of the market and the progress of technology, these brands have gradually realized that only with their own brands and core technologies can they be invincible in the fierce market competition. As a result, they have begun to transform, from foundry to brand, from imitation to innovation.
In this process, Soundcore (Anke Innovation), 1MORE (Magic acoustics), Edifier (Ramfier), SHOKZ (Shaoyin), Baseus (Bysi), TaoTronics (Zebao) and other brands stood out and became the leader of domestic headphone brands. With their unique product positioning, differentiated market layout and technological upgrading, they have launched fierce competition with international big names.
However, with the constant changes in the market and the increasingly fierce competition, domestic headphone brands are also facing many challenges. The rising cost of supply chain, the intensification of cross-border competition and the continuous emergence of market segments have made it increasingly difficult for brands to go to sea. In this context, the choice of direction is particularly important.
In the current wave of artificial intelligence sweeping the world, AI technology-driven intelligence and scenes have become a new direction for domestic headphone brands. Apple, SONY and other manufacturers have applied 3D audio technology to AR/VR scenes, and the integration of health functions has also made heart rate measurement, tube sleep and other basic functions of the headset. This trend not only provides new development opportunities for domestic headphone brands, but also brings new challenges.
As a brand representative of the headset industry, Magic Acoustics’ in-depth exploration of AI is particularly eye-catching. As early as three years ago, All Magic Acoustics invested in the strategic layout of AI and invested resources in the innovation of the interaction layer with more user perception. In the AI layout of Wanmo Acoustics, smart wearable devices are positioned as “the nearest computing power entrance and exit to the user”, and headphones are not only the carrier of sound, but also the physical interface to build non-inductive human-machine collaboration.
Xie Guanhong, founder and chairman of All Magic Acoustics, proposed the concept of “interactive layer innovation” and applied it to three major scenario-based applications – two-way translation, de-app, and smart home integration. When the headset is upgraded to a smart wearable device, the experience to be provided by All Magic Acoustics is a real-time translation engine with parallel main/secondary channels, so that consumers can easily interrupt and continue the natural dialogue flow when talking across languages. At the same time, Wan Magic Acoustics also plans to embed AI directly into the social platform to achieve one thing one, so that human-computer interconnection becomes as simple as pulling a wechat group. In addition, in view of the current situation of smart home ecology fragmentation, Xie Guanhong proposed a “device is an account” solution, so that users can build cross-brand scene linkage through voice commands.
These innovations not only break the brand and platform barriers, let AI truly become the link that connects everything, but also show the deep insight and forward-looking layout of the future development of science and technology. However, these innovations are not achieved overnight, but are based on the deep cultivation, brand building, technological innovation and domestic and foreign channel layout in the supply chain of the past ten years.
In the early days, Wanmagic Acoustics was dominated by a single foundry business, but with the development of the market and the progress of technology, it gradually realized that only with its own brand and core technology can it be invincible in the market. In 2015, the company launched its own brand, 1MORE, and began to enter overseas markets in 2016. Today, 1MORE has become a well-known brand with global shipments of more than 300 million pairs, and its products are sold to nearly 100 countries and regions around the world, including the United States, Japan and Europe.
In terms of technological innovation, Wanmo Acoustics has invested a lot of resources to establish a variety of well-equipped research and development institutions such as acoustic silence laboratory, subjective tuning room, ergonomic laboratory. These institutions not only provide Magic Acoustics with a strong independent research and development capability, but also show its emphasis on acoustic technology, industrial design and user experience. At the same time, All Magic Acoustics also adopts a hybrid architecture with technology research and development as the core and “independent production + outsourcing”, which not only ensures its control of core technologies, but also realizes rapid response to diversified products and compresses the product iteration cycle.
The strategic transition from foundry to independent brand is not easy, but Wan Magic Acoustics has found an innovative solution to “whether foundry and brand can coexist”. Through the “innovation laboratory” mechanism to achieve technology feeding, independent brands first verify cutting-edge technology, to mature can feed back ODM customers. This unique “double cycle” model not only guarantees the continued growth of the ODM business, but also provides a testing ground for brand innovation.
In terms of going to sea, 1MORE has taken the path of “first difficult, then easy” and directly entered the Red Sea market to compete head-on with international brands. At the same time, it also adopted a multi-channel layout strategy, relying on Amazon and other platforms online to maintain the TOP10 position of TWS headphones, and make full use of the advantages of Amazon FBA and AWD to improve warehousing and logistics distribution efficiency; Offline, we will enter large retail chains and develop offline cooperative agents. These initiatives not only allow 1MORE to reach and connect with consumers faster, but also win it a good reputation and brand influence in the global market.
In addition to technological innovation and going to sea strategy, All Magic Acoustics also attaches great importance to product differentiation and continuous innovation. Enhancing the professionalism of the sound by working with Luca Bignardi, a Grammy-winning sound engineer; Consider wearing comfort in terms of ergonomic wear; Launch niche products for specific scenarios such as sleep beans. These initiatives not only meet the needs of consumers for sound quality and wear comfort, but also win more competitive advantages in the market.
Looking forward to the future, All Magic Acoustics will continue to work intensively on interactive innovation at the AI level, and work in a healthy ecology for a long time. Including sleep AIDS, preventing noise interference, protecting hearing and other directions will be its focus areas. At the same time, it will also be the use of segmented products to diversify, specialized development to meet the needs of different consumers. As Xie Guanhong said: “The future acoustic competition is not a hardware competition but an ecological war. We want to let global users touch the temperature of Chinese innovation through sound.”
From the rise of domestic headphone brands to the innovative practice of Magic Acoustics, we can see the strong advantages and unlimited potential of China’s manufacturing industry. In the future development, it is believed that more domestic headphone brands will emerge, showing the charm and strength of China’s innovation in the international market.