This report provides a market forecast overview of the Personal Portable Electronics Application Group (which includes Portable Cameras, Headphones, Smartwatches, and Media Players), as found in the Transforma Insights Connected Things IoT Forecast. These electronic devices are lightweight portable equipment that are mostly used by consumers.
One interesting characteristic of the market, which is relevant across all the categories, is that consumers increasingly prefer simplicity. The majority of the market will prefer a single device that combines the functionality of multiple devices, provided the compromises are limited. The availability of increasingly capable smartphones has resulted in a constrained market for cameras and media players, as most consumers have access to smartphones and they typically offer similar functionality. This has left a market for devices being used either for commercial purposes or targeted to specific consumer segments, such as cameras for photography enthusiasts and media players for those who prioritise better audio quality. However, the ubiquity of smartphones has been a key enabler for the adoption of Headphones and Smartwatches, which are often used in association with smartphones.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used and revenue.
A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector breakdowns and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
The “Market development” section has been further categorised into Portable Cameras, Headphones, Smart Watches, and Media Players.
This section first claims that the ubiquity of smartphones has proven to be a hindrance to the adoption of connected portable cameras (since high-quality cameras are available on smartphones anyway).
It then explains how the market for dedicated cameras is mostly driven by hobbyists and light professional users, despite offering additional benefits, compared to smartphones. However, it also adds, that despite this, the digital camera market growth has been excellent in the past couple of years. For instance, the Camera & Imaging Products Association recorded shipment growth of greater than 10% in both 2024 and 2025. It then claims that market vendors (like Nikon) are increasingly focusing on the enterprise segment, as consumers prefer to use smartphones with high-quality cameras.
It also considers the cameras that are used to record adventurous activities (like GoPro cameras), the connectivity technologies used in them, and their features like image stabilisation and 4K videos. It also talks about the limited scope of WAN connectivity in cameras and states the reasons behind this.
It then discusses the scope for WAN connectivity in cameras and concludes that devices with dedicated WAN connections are likely to be limited in appeal. It also explores the increasing integration of AI in the photography and video industry, and charts the features of cameras with AI, including object recognition and image enhancement. This section also includes some popular innovations by market vendors in the industry, like Fuji X100VI and Canon EOS R6 Mark II.
This section talks about how the mass adoption of MP3 players, followed by smartphones, has created considerable growth in the adoption of headphones in recent years, resulting in significant technological evolution (like noise cancellation features). It also adds that recently, smartphone manufacturers have been introducing new devices without the traditional 3.5mm audio jack, almost forcing users to purchase connected headphones, which has also added impetus to the market.
It then lists some popular innovations by market vendors in the industry, like Sony WH-1000XM6 and Marshall Monitor 3.
This section begins with an explanation of the symbiotic relationship between smart watches and smartphones and talks about one of the major reason that has driven their adoption , which is the convenience they offer by providing access to smartphone functions while being more readily accessible .
It then talks about the evolution of modern smartwatches and claims that these watches are now equipped with a wide array of sensors to track vital signs, including heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, skin temperature, and respiratory rate. It further explains that the growing popularity of health monitoring is a key driver behind the increasing adoption of smartwatches.
It also explores why cellular-enabled smartwatches are taking an increasing share in the smartwatch market (owing to their features like audio streaming and navigation) and lists some vendors that have launched cellular-enabled smartwatches, including Apple, Google, Garmin, and Samsung. Besides, it also mentions the kind of connectivity technologies that these smartwatches use, including Short Range technologies. This section also includes some popular innovations by market vendors, like the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 4.
This section begins with a short description of how PMPs (portable media players) or DAPs (Digital Audio Players) have evolved with time, with features such as a long battery life and a wide range of input and connectivity options.
It then charts the features of connected portable media players (like relying on a USB connection or memory cards to transfer media) and explains how they differ from tablets and smartphones. It also discusses the challenges faced by the media player market (for instance, from the smartphone industry) and how this market will perform in future.
This section also lists some popular innovations by market vendors in the industry, including Astell and Kern SR35 and FiiOM27.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the number of personal portable electronics devices, which will grow from 1.7 billion devices in 2025 to 3.1 billion in 2035.
Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the personal portable electronics application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Personal Portable Electronics Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 11%.
