Headphone giant Sennheiser looks to tap growing demand for quality

German company optimistic on fast-developing market for wireless products

Chinese consumers are focusing on quality and sound when choosing headphones, prompting headphone giant Sennheiser to further explore the market, said a senior executive with the firm.

Yasmine Riechers, director of Operations at Sennheiser China, said China's headphone market is developing fast, and demand for wireless headphones is increasing.

"People want mobility," she said. "They don't want to be fixed or connected to one specific thing. Therefore, the basic trend in China is for headphones to be wireless."

According to a survey conducted by Chinese technology website zol.com.cn, by the third quarter of 2018, the primary concern of 73.45 percent of those surveyed was whether their headphones were wireless, demonstrating that wirelessness had become a major trend in the headphone market.

"Wireless headphones are going to dominate the market, because of their convenience. Currently, mobile phones have nearly made the headphone jack obsolete. In the future, we will see the steady growth of wireless headphones, and it is estimated that a bunch of high-quality products will come out soon," according to a report from zol.com.cn.

Also, as noted by Riechers, with China's ongoing consumption industry upgrade, the quality and sound sophistication of headphones are becoming more important for consumers. "Consumers really pay attention to what they buy and make sure it is convenient and reliable. In the digital era, information is more readily available, and people can educate themselves before purchase."

According to a recent report by Alibaba's Tmall platform, demand from Chinese consumers for sound sophistication is continuously going up. In 2017, the ratio of consumers willing to spend 1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan ($145 to $289) on headphones increased, ranking third among other price ranges.

"This demonstrates consumers are paying less attention to the price of headphones, and more attention to the quality. When they choose headphones, noise reduction, sound sophistication and appearance are becoming decisive factors," said the report by Tmall.

Market insiders said that with technology advancement and consumption upgrade, demand for high-quality headphones is also rising. They said consumers need better-quality equipment for their entertainment activities, and that consumers prefer fashionable, high-tech headphones.

Riechers said the Chinese headphone market has evolved rapidly in the past 20 years, and that consumers prefer to buy things online.

"In China, we buy everything online. Therefore, we listen to how our consumers want to buy the product, and adjust our strategies," she said. Sennheiser updated its e-commerce strategy about four years ago and now the company has an official account on China's most popular social media, WeChat. "We cooperate with every major online platform in China, to create more convenience for our Chinese consumers," she added.

She noted that China is currently among the top three markets for Sennheiser.

She said that the Chinese market is becoming increasingly important for European companies, Sennheiser's headquarters assigned her to China to head business operations.

"My role is to create a bridge between the headquarters in Germany and the offices in China. I need to understand different cultures, different philosophies and different people, which women are good at. In addition, I need to bridge different departments, including finance, human resources, supply chain, information technology and technical service." she said.