Audio Becoming More Important in Smartphone Buying Decisions: Cirrus

An estimated 40% of consumers have increased the use of the speakerphone function on their smartphones since the start of the pandemic, Cirrus Logic found. The chipmaker hired SAR Insight & Consulting to canvass 1,722 consumers in China, Germany, South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S., finding younger respondents especially rely "more on a variety of smartphone applications that require better audio, indicative of behavior that we expect to continue beyond the pandemic,” said SAR analyst Peter Cooney. Cirrus markets “smart amplifier” chips that it says will boost smartphone audio quality through the handset’s speakers without draining the battery. Respondents globally “agreed that the importance of audio in their purchase-making decision process for mobile devices was on the rise,” said the chipmaker. “Chinese respondents in particular reported a desire for better audio speakers,” with 72% asserting that audio was becoming more important in their decision to buy a smartphone, it said. Consumers cited a variety of reasons for using speaker mode, such as for streaming video content, exercise, e-learning, dance practice and karaoke, it said.