There will always be a percentage of people who demand *and* can afford quality. But the level of interest has gone from "many households" to "a percentage". For a smart TV in the US, 1/3 in households has one. I don't think the same numbers apply to "a nice hi-fi" setup.
Music is more popular today than it ever was, but the dedicated "sit down and listen to music" at home is definitely less common today.
The NAD 3020 sold 1.1 million units in its lifetime. The DIY Dynaco ST-70 sold 300,000 units in its lifetime
I don't think we see those kinds of numbers today for home stereo.
JBL has sold 100,000,000 portable speakers globally (like Bluetooth) and over 365 million headphones were bought last year alone, globally.
Heres some sobering data.
2015 to 2018 USA Home Audio Sales.
- Blue is components, which shows that there is a small growth, but this includes soundbars
- the market is "growing" for the enjoyment of music, nearly doubling over 5 years
- but while the split was 50/50 between red/blue in 2015 (wireless vs. components; you can imagine a home setup and a travel setup), that hasn't continued.
View attachment 72406
Here, we can see that soundbars are growing at the expense of "home theater audio". (USA data). The * means, "12 months, ending"
View attachment 72408
And for comparison, some global #s for soundbars (in units, not dollars)
View attachment 72411