Sustainability at IFA 2022

After a two-year hiatus, IFA made its welcome return to Messe, Berlin. With a century of shows behind them, 2022’s IFA came back stronger than ever, targeting the theme of sustainability one product launch at a time. With an opening keynote on the importance of the environment leaving an inspiring buzz in the air, our analysts were keen to discover all IFA 2022 had to offer. Among the 161,00 that attended in person were Futuresource Senior Market Analysts Guy Hammett and Saranraj Mathiavan, alongside Market Analyst Arian Bassari.

Sustainability Was Seen from All Angles of the IFA Show Floor

Sustainability was a pivotal theme at IFA 2022. The opening keynote was a direct plea to the consumer and home electronics industry to collaborate on controlling climate change and reducing pollution. Naturally, this set the tone for the show, reflected across many product launches and innovations on display throughout IFA. The headphones market really delivered on their product launches showcasing solar-powered earbuds from one vendor, as well as a ground-breaking battery life of almost fifty hours from another.

The theme continued through to wearables, with a focus on the improvement of existing technologies rather than brand new products. Vendors on the show floor understood the importance of the evolution rather than revolution of technology, making a stance towards a greener future.

Sensors to Progress Existing Wearables Technology

A focus of this year’s IFA within wearables was the progression of existing technologies to provide increased value for consumers. Key selling points included improved battery life and complementary subscription services.

In terms of current trends our analysts noted that the introduction of new sensor technology took a backseat to the significant attention now being placed on improvements of existing algorithms. Data science and machine learning techniques are now being implemented into existing sensors, providing a promising future for wearable technology. Steering away from passive data collection, this enhanced technology enables more valuable data to be collected and transformed into health and wellness plans that go beyond the boundaries of heart monitoring and step counts.

Battery Life Innovations Within Headphones is a Major Focus for Vendors

With each new product launch, battery life improves. Several models at IFA 2022 advertised their longer-than-average battery life, faster charging times, and indeed, the ability to solar charge, in line with consumer demands.

Aesthetics to Become an Increasingly Important Factor for Headphone Consumers

A theme our analysts noted at this year’s IFA was the focus on aesthetics within the headphone market. Consumers are increasingly prioritising the design of their headphone products to suit their style rather than a pure focus on functionality and improved technology. Whilst some product launches optimised battery life, overall, it was those that sported stylish colours and visually pleasing elements that highlighted a shift in consumer demand.

Download Our Post-Show Report for Further Insight

Our IFA 2022 post-show report offers insight into the key trends and developments of products in the wearables and headphones market. The report also hosts discussions of the leading product launches, as well as an exploration of the principal themes our analysts came across on the Berlin show floor.

Refresh your memory of IFA 2022 or gain that inside perspective of everything you missed – download your free copy of our post-show summary here.

About the author

Arian Bassari

Arian joined the Gaming team at Futuresource in 2021 as an analyst, where he conducts research to understand market dynamics and provide data-driven insights.