Audio technology company Bragi and market research firm Futuresource have published a new whitepaper examining how fragmentation across the headphones and hearables market could affect the deployment of AI-powered audio services.
Munich-based Bragi provides a software platform that enables manufacturers to add features and third-party services to audio devices, combining embedded firmware, branded applications and cloud-based service management. Its technology supports more than 30m devices, with partners including Bose, Skullcandy and Tozo.
Device-to-Service Integration in Audio: From Fragmentation to Platform Infrastructure argues that while wireless audio hardware and chipset capabilities continue to advance, the infrastructure connecting devices, brands and services remains highly fragmented.
Futuresource estimates that the global branded headphones market reached 563m units and US$52.3bn in 2025, with wireless products accounting for 500m units and US$50.8bn.
The report suggests that the growing availability of dedicated AI processing in audio chipsets is creating opportunities for conversational AI, personal assistants and contextual audio experiences, but that deploying those services across multiple brands, chipset architectures and software environments remains complex.
Saranraj Mathivanan, senior analyst for personal electronics at Futuresource, said: “As audio devices become more intelligent, the ability to connect services across a fragmented ecosystem could become a key competitive differentiator. The opportunity in AI audio is no longer just about hardware innovation. Increasingly, value will be created by the platforms and infrastructure that connect devices, services and consumers.”
Unlike the smartphone market, where a small number of operating systems provide common foundations for applications and services, the audio sector is divided across numerous chipset architectures, firmware environments and software stacks.
According to the paper, bespoke AI voice assistant integrations can cost between US$400,000 and US$1.5m, while extending a single service across the thousands of headphone brands active on Amazon US could potentially require engineering investment measured in billions of dollars.
The report also points to growing consumer engagement with voice functionality. Futuresource research found that 45 per cent of consumers own headphones capable of activating a voice assistant, with 65 per cent of those users engaging with the feature frequently.
Against this backdrop, the whitepaper argues that the industry may require a neutral coordination layer capable of connecting devices, services and users across different brands and chipset platforms. Such an approach, it says, could simplify integration and support recurring service models while providing more consistent experiences across different devices.
The paper presents Bragi’s own platform as one implementation of this approach, using embedded firmware, branded applications and cloud-based service management to connect audio devices with third-party services across multiple chipset environments.
Nikolaj Hviid, CEO of Bragi, said: “Fragmented across 3,000 brands, audio does not have a common platform. The Age of AI is still searching for its interface. That interface is already in half a billion ears.”
The report concludes that competition in the audio market could increasingly shift from device specifications towards service enablement and ecosystem connectivity as AI capabilities continue to develop.
The whitepaper can be accessed for free here:
You can subscribe to Installation magazine for free here and the daily newsletter here.
