Shokz keeps a relatively low public profile. Its founder and senior executives rarely speak publicly, and few firsthand accounts of the company circulate outside it.
That has not kept its products from becoming prominent in open-ear audio. Shokz built its early consumer identity around bone conduction headphones, particularly for endurance sports. That focus gave the company a distinct position, but it also limited the audience it could reach.
Breaking beyond that core audience has become one of Shokz’s defining challenges.
In 2023, Shokz launched OpenFit, its first ear-hook open-ear headphones, extending beyond professional sports into commuting, office use, and everyday life. It wanted consumers to see Shokz as more than an exercise brand. In 2025, it launched its first clip-on earbuds, OpenDots One, pushing further into the broader consumer market.
Shokz’s expansion into a broader open-ear headphone brand has coincided with rapid growth for the category in China.
According to IDC, China’s Bluetooth headphone market shipped 121 million units in 2025, up 6.9% year-on-year. Open-ear headphone shipments approached 30 million units, up 20.2%, significantly outpacing the overall market. Clip-on earbuds were the fastest-growing form factor within open-ear products, with shipments rising 51% year-on-year in 2025.
That growth has drawn more competitors, including established audio brands and smartphone makers with large user bases.
Now, Shokz is trying to push beyond its own comfort zone.
Its case for differentiation rests not on a single technology, but on what Yang Yun, CEO of Shokz China, describes as a system-level capability spanning materials, ergonomics, open-ear acoustics, algorithms, and an understanding of real-world usage scenarios.
But the move into a broader market also raises a new set of questions. How does a brand associated with professional sports reach a much wider audience? And when its competitors expand from specialist headphone companies to smartphone ecosystem players, do Shokz’s existing advantages still hold?
The company is also moving into artificial intelligence-enabled audio. In August, Shokz launched OpenFit 2 AI, its first AI headphones, adding recording, transcription, and translation capabilities aimed at business users and people who spend significant time in meetings.
There were doubts inside Shokz about expanding beyond its established categories, but Yang has little interest in spending too much time hesitating.
“Of course we think about all these things internally,” he said. “But in my view, thinking about them doesn’t get you anywhere. Just get out into the market and do it.”
He prefers to look for answers in the market.
Yang sometimes thinks back to the first time he attended CES Asia many years ago. Shokz had a nine-square-meter booth tucked into a corner of the exhibition hall. From there, the company gradually built its China business and expanded from bone conduction into a broader range of open-ear headphones.
Shokz may not say much publicly, but staying within its existing boundaries was never the plan.
Yang spoke with 36Kr about the boundaries of Shokz’s product portfolio, AI headphones, and how its China business has changed over the past 14 years.
The following transcript has been edited and consolidated for brevity and clarity.
36Kr: When did Shokz decide to expand beyond bone conduction into the broader open-ear market?
Yang Yun (YY): Bone conduction headphones were actually the earliest form of open-ear headphones. It’s just that today, when people talk about open-ear headphones, they’re usually referring more to products such as clip-on earbuds and ear-hook headphones.
When we were focused on bone conduction, our approach was to take something one meter wide and go a kilometer deep. And we didn’t even cover every sport. We concentrated heavily on endurance sports: running, cycling, trail running, and later swimming.
But we wanted to reach more people, so naturally we had to extend outward and expand our boundaries. We already had technical capabilities in open-ear acoustics. Why not make true wireless open-ear earbuds?
It also has to do with the way we work.
Before we launched the first-generation OpenFit in 2023, we had already done a great deal of work internally. Our technology innovation team had already begun researching the fundamental technologies behind open-ear acoustics. If you count backward from our first earhook open-ear headphones, that research goes back another three or four years.
36Kr: Which capabilities carried over from bone conduction to clip-on earbuds?
YY: Take the rear band on our bone conduction headphones, for example. We’ve always used a titanium alloy.
When it stretches, the change in clamping force isn’t especially large. Facial and ear shapes also vary significantly among people in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and other regions. So a single standard SKU needs to accommodate people with many different face and ear shapes.
With clip-on earbuds, titanium alloy is also used in the connecting bridge. In the past, we were able to make these components large and long. Now, we can make titanium pieces extremely thin and small.
Clip-on earbuds also have a very direct problem. If the clamping force is too strong, they become uncomfortable and painful. But if it’s too weak, they fall off easily.
So how do you apply the right amount of clamping force so they stay on securely while remaining comfortable over long periods? That’s something we’ve been studying continuously.
36Kr: What does Shokz have that is difficult for competitors to replicate?
YY: I don’t believe there is any user need that only we have discovered and no one else has. The key is still how you make the product.
I don’t think the core capability of a business comes down to one specification or one particular technology.
For us, it is whether we can bring together open-ear acoustics, product structure and form factor, ergonomics based on our understanding of users, algorithms, and our understanding of real usage scenarios. We see that as a system-level capability.
What tends to be underestimated most are the details that matter during extended wear. How do you accommodate different ear shapes? Does the product stay secure during exercise? Are calls reliable? Can all these aspects of the experience remain consistent over time?
Here’s one example: we have our own silicone factory.
Silicone is an extremely common material, and there are many suppliers. But we need to make it very soft and very small while also meeting our own requirements for the overall production process and yield rates.
Eventually, we found that building our own factory was one way to achieve that.
It may sound like a small thing, but the investment behind it is substantial.
We have done extensive work on materials, including how silicone is used and studied. We have also collected a large amount of human ear data around the world. To address the needs of different ear shapes, we created a database to make sure our product testing is effective.
I think this example does a good job of explaining what we mean by systems engineering.
36Kr: How do you expect the open-ear headphone market to evolve?
YY: Many years ago, I gave a talk at an audio forum in Shenzhen. I’ve always believed that headphones becoming more task-specific tools is a long-term trend. People will use different headphones in different situations.
Of course, I’m one of the biggest supporters of our own headphones. But when I’m on a long-haul flight, I’ll also bring noise-canceling over-ear headphones or in-ear headphones.
So in my view, open-ear headphones and traditional TWS (true wireless stereo) products are not in a zero-sum relationship where one necessarily replaces the other.
Before the market truly segments around specific tools and functions, such as translation or recording, I think there is room for everyone.
But no matter how the market segments in the future, headphones are still, first and foremost, for listening. And people also need to wear them for long periods.
So basic attributes such as sound quality and long-term comfort are extremely important.
First, make sure users can wear your headphones for a long time and feel that the sound is good. Then it makes more sense to talk about other functions.
Bone conduction won’t be replaced either. It is more geared toward serious, professional sports, especially endurance sports. People who like bone conduction will continue to like it.
But we’ve also found that many heavy users of bone conduction headphones buy Shokz clip-on and ear-hook headphones for everyday use.
36Kr: What was the biggest challenge in taking Shokz beyond sports and bone conduction?
YY: I came up through the frontline. I spent my first two years at the company as an engineer, then moved into B2B sales. In 2013, the company asked me to establish the China business. I’ve always seen myself as someone who stays close to the front line.
At that point, though, we really did need to let go of some things from the past.
That included some of our previous assumptions about the sports market, how we viewed the future direction of the brand, and how we defined the audience for the category.
One of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to expand people’s perception of Shokz from a traditional sports-oriented brand into a brand relevant to more situations and a much larger market.
When the first-generation OpenFit launched, we also wondered internally if our existing users would buy it. And what would bone conduction users think about the change?
From our perspective, the move felt completely natural. But consumers might have thought, “Why are you making a product like this?”
Of course we think about all these things internally. But in my view, thinking about them doesn’t get you anywhere. Just get out into the market and do it.
36Kr: Looking back, what did Shokz get right with OpenFit?
YY: I think it was reassessing the messages we wanted the brand to communicate.
Previously, we were a sports-oriented brand. All our marketing materials, the settings where we showed up, and the trade shows we attended were centered on sports.
After the first OpenFit came out, we wanted the product to reach a broader and younger audience. So we made a series of adjustments to where the brand reached people, the occasions we appeared in, and the image we presented to consumers.
But all of those moves were built around the product. You can’t simply announce out of nowhere that you’re going to upgrade the brand.
When we began making true wireless open-ear earbuds, three things were happening at the same time: the product range was expanding, the boundaries of our user base were expanding, and the brand itself was expanding.
For us, it was never a question of whether we should do it. The questions were how open-ear headphones should be made, how the product should be defined, how the user should be defined, and how the usage scenarios should be defined.
A company can’t stay in its comfort zone forever. We need to keep challenging the limits of what we’re capable of.
36Kr: Why does Shokz maintain a relatively measured product launch cadence?
YY: We used to update our flagship bone conduction products roughly once every two years.
Even now, with the open-ear headphone market booming, we generally update each product line once every year to a little over a year.
We’re relatively steady in our product development and launch cadence because we want every product we actually release to go through sufficient internal R&D. Its performance, user experience, and overall experience all have to meet our standards.
And I don’t think headphones are a category that naturally lends itself to extremely rapid iteration.
Internally, we do a great deal of advanced technical research and product validation. Only some of those projects ultimately reach the market.
Some may still be at the prototype or early research stage when we decide they don’t meet our requirements. Or the technology may need further refinement and deeper development. In those cases, we won’t move the project forward.
36Kr: When did the new category begin to scale meaningfully?
YY: I think it was when we launched our first clip-on earbuds. Sales were certainly one part of it.
But I think the second part was more important. Even though many brands were making clip-on earbuds, users started associating “Shokz” with quality clip-on earbuds.
After we launched the product, we received a great deal of recognition from consumers.
I believe that product helped us reach a large number of new users. A significant share of them, possibly more than half, had no idea we had ever made bone conduction headphones.
I think that was hugely important for acquiring new customers and breaking beyond our previous audience.
36Kr: Will bone conduction and other open-ear headphones eventually replace each other?
YY: I don’t think one can replace the other. Bone conduction is more suited to professional sports and endurance sports. Sports users value the professional qualities of bone conduction, but in everyday work settings they may use other types of open-ear headphones, such as ear-hook or clip-on models.
Once a category develops to the point where products are tied to specific scenarios, that’s when category segmentation begins.
Bone conduction has reached a stage where people consider it for professional sports scenarios, which highlights its value in sports.
With open-ear headphones, the market is still continuing to build awareness of the category. In the future, they will certainly become much more widespread.
And bone conduction remains a very important product line for us. We will continue investing in it. There is no question about that.
36Kr: How do you expect China’s headphone market to develop over the next three years?
YY: Every category has its own growth trajectory and stage of development. Relatively speaking, clip-on earbuds are developing quickly.
At the same time, the AI market is expanding rapidly. Products combining AI with specific usage scenarios will have more opportunities in the future.
36Kr: Why did you move from engineering into sales and eventually take charge of the China business?
YY: I was actually only an engineer for two years.
In the summer of 2009, I moved into what was then the company’s traditional B2B business. You could call the role sales engineer or presales engineer. I worked on services and customized solutions.
When they asked me to take on the China business in 2013, the boss’s reasoning was very simple: “He really likes consumer electronics anyway. We’re entering this market now, so let him give it a try.”
I gave it a try, and I’m still doing it today.
When I first joined in 2007, the company had roughly 100–200 employees. Today, it has several thousand.
36Kr: What were the first three years of building the China business like?
YY: I wouldn’t say it was difficult. It was exciting.
When you’re going from zero to one, there are so many things you’ve never experienced before. Every day, you have to learn something new.
At the time, there really wasn’t any time or room to sit around thinking about whether it was difficult.
36Kr: Which early milestones in building the China business have stayed with you?
YY: I remember our first CES Asia very clearly. Our booth was tiny, three meters by three meters, just nine square meters, tucked into the far corner of a huge exhibition hall.
Today, when we attend AWE, our booth is more than 100 square meters.
But back then, simply having a nine-square-meter booth for the first time already felt like something that made me very happy.
And even though the booth was small, there were a lot of people. From the moment the exhibition hall opened in the morning, we worked in shifts introducing the products and inviting people in to try them.
We met a lot of users and retailers at that event, as well as many people who were interested in us.
I think that was when the China business really started getting on the right track.
36Kr: Why did Shokz decide to open branded retail stores in 2022?
YY: In mid-2022, we conducted a systematic brand health survey.
At the time, I was thinking about what would make me consider a brand genuinely good and premium. So I wanted to try opening stores.
A branded retail store isn’t just a place to sell products. More importantly, it gives users a chance to personally experience the premium and professional experience we offer.
36Kr: Was the One Avenue location in Shenzhen Shokz’s first branded retail store?
YY: Yes. Starting with that store, we built a complete branded store management and operating system from zero to one.
Today, we have close to 90 stores nationwide.
It wasn’t the beginning of our retail efforts. But it was the point when Shokz China truly began moving toward becoming a more premium brand.
36Kr: Which sales channel matters most to Shokz?
YY: Different channels play different roles. But I think if you want to build a strong brand, there is one thing you always have to understand: Wherever the user is, that’s where you need to go.
I still occasionally spend time on the shop floor myself.
Whenever I travel somewhere for work, if time allows, I’ll visit a nearby store and talk to the staff and store manager.
Sometimes I’ll hear customers walking past say, “Shokz has stores now?”
Or, “Didn’t they used to make bone conduction headphones and sports headphones? They have so many categories now. I had no idea.”
I think that kind of thing is very important.
People who used our bone conduction products in the past may not know that we now make clip-on, ear-hook, and other types of open-ear headphones. Physical stores give users a fuller, more three-dimensional view of the brand.
36Kr: When did Shokz begin exploring AI products, and why did it start with recording and transcription?
YY: Again, it came from users.
Every year, we spend a great deal of time conducting user research. It isn’t just the product team. Our regional marketing teams do it as well.
One user told us during a conversation that if Shokz headphones could record audio, they could carry one fewer device.
For us, that was a fairly natural extension.
Hardware is something we’re relatively good at, and we’re also rebuilding our software capabilities.
Then it became a question of product definition. Who should we work with? Should we use a small on-device model or a large model? Should the processing happen inside the headphones, or should it happen through the phone?
Once those directions were determined, the product gradually began to take shape.
Why start with recording and transcription?
There are certainly many products like that on the market today. But people are also carrying more and more things with them every day.
If one pair of headphones can meet your normal listening needs while also doing a good job of recording and transcription, I think that’s a very good way to combine two devices into one.
36Kr: AI was already a major topic in 2023 and 2024. Was Shokz worried about moving too slowly?
YY: From the perspective of technology media or partners who follow us, we may appear relatively measured in how we communicate publicly. But internally, when we’re pushing things forward and discussing them, we tend to start very early.
Around 2023 or 2024, we were probably already discussing internally how AI hardware should be built, and whether our products can be combined with AI.
But AI is now an extremely broad concept. Almost anything can be described as AI.
What we really want to bring to market is a product that genuinely solves pain points in specific scenarios and improves the user experience, rather than making an AI product simply for the sake of having an AI product.
So people on the outside may think, “Were you a little slow to respond?”
But I don’t think that’s the case.
Good products always require refinement.
We want to give users a truly complete product.
36Kr: What do you think AI headphones will ultimately become?
YY: I don’t think there is one standard answer. We still have to think about the problem from the user’s perspective.
How do we serve users well? How do we solve pain points in specific scenarios during actual use? Then we can expand the functions and broaden the user base.
I actually don’t really like the term “educating users.” It sounds too much like you’re looking down from a God’s eye view.
We’re using our own approach and our own understanding of AI products to serve users.
At the same time, everyone in the industry is still experimenting.
That’s also what makes this market interesting.
36Kr: Could Shokz eventually expand beyond headphones into other wearables?
YY: It’s possible. We’ve already expanded from bone conduction into different forms of open-ear headphones, including ear-hook and clip-on products.
In the future, can we break beyond headphones as a form factor altogether? Anything is possible.
KrASIA features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.