The History of Headphones [Infographic]

Headphones have been wrapping our ears for almost a century, gradually evolving from niche product to a mass-market $1+ billion revenue generator. While there has always been the slow march of hi-fidelity headphones from companies like AKG and Sennheiser, the history of headphones can be traced through several notable eras, to today’s craze around celebrity endorsements.

Some may dispute their sound quality compared with the brands favored by headphone aficionados, but one thing’s indisputable: today, celebrity-branded headphones are flying off the shelves and onto consumers’ heads at amazing speeds.

With their help perhaps, market research firm IBISWorld projects that revenues for the headphones manufacturing industry will increase to $1.18 billion by 2016. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; the history of headphones starts where most technology originated … with the US military.

by Voucher Codes , Designed by Infographics company Visual.ly