Dubai: Retailers at Gitex Shopper 2015, a consumer electronics exhibition that kicked off in Dubai on Saturday, are looking to cash in on consumer demand for high-end headphones.

The increasing popularity of high-end headphones, such as those by Sennheiser and Beats, is driven by more demand for “better sound quality and technologies [such as Bluetooth and noise cancellation],” said Arpit Wadhwani, general manager of IT at Sharaf DG.

High-end headphones cost between $200 and $400 (Dh735 and Dh1,470), according to Mahesh Chotrani, assistant vice-president at Jacky’s.

Jacky’s didn’t focus on the headphones category at Gitex last year, but with increasing demand for the products, it is showcasing four headphone brands this year, including Beats, JBL, Philips and Panasonic, he said.

Sales of headphones at Jacky’s existing stores in the UAE is expected to grow by 15-20 per cent this year over 2014, according to Chotrani.

Heston Saldanha, channel manager for Consumer/Retail at Sennheiser Middle East, expects sales to grow by “at least 25-30 per cent” during Gitex compared to last year’s event.

Sennheiser sold Dh12,000 worth of headphones on Saturday, the first day of Gitex, Saldanha said.

Sony expects the UAE market for headphones priced above $300 to grow by 15 per cent in 2015 over the previous year, during which 750,000 headphone units were sold.

Beats, which was established in 2008, started the trend of high-end headphones, focusing on audio quality, following complaints from the music industry that headphones on the market had inferior audio quality.

Apple acquired Beats in 2014 for $3 billion.

In the US, Beats represents 57 per cent of the market for headphones priced more than $100, it said in a statement, citing a report by research company NPD Group.

Demand for mid-range headphones, priced around $100, is also increasing, Chotrani said.

“The technologies in smartphones and tablets are helping drive the sales of [headphones]. The more features are getting on the smartphones, the more people will be using these add-ons, like headphones, to make the best possible use of the devices,” he said.