How Yealink's Retail Expansion is Revolutionizing Hybrid Work Communication in Australia

Yealink is making a bold move into the Australian consumer market through a strategic partnership with Officeworks, bringing its enterprise-grade headsets to retail shelves for the first time. This shift is driven by evolving work habits, rising expectations for audio quality, and insights into Australian shopping preferences.

Retail Shift: Meeting Consumers Where They Are

Jeremy Chen, Country Manager (Headset Business) for Yealink ANZ, explains: "This new partnership means consumers can easily walk into a store they already trust and get their hands on this enterprise-grade technology. It's easier for customers to find more technology-driven business headsets."

Chen highlights that over 70% of Australians prefer shopping in-store where they can touch and feel products. He notes that many shoppers are still encountering decade-old audio technology in stores, despite rapid improvements since the pandemic. "I am still seeing customers using 10-year-old technology. So that's why I feel it's really the right timing for us to bring enterprise-level products to daily offices," he adds.

Hybrid Habits: The New Normal

Chen emphasizes that hybrid work patterns in Australia continue to influence product design and distribution. "It's hybrid working two to three days in the office, and two days at home. Hybrid working is not a temporary solution. It's already here," he states.

Headsets have shifted from optional to essential. "Before the pandemic, a headset was a nice-to-have. What I am seeing today is it's already becoming the new norm. It's essential for work communication," Chen explains. Professional audio is increasingly important because workers take calls from varied environments. "If you're still wearing earbuds with a weak microphone, all the people talking around you mean the other side can't hear clearly. It doesn't sound good or professional in your daily work," he adds.

Product Design: Innovation for Modern Work

A key feature in Yealink's latest models is a retractable microphone boom arm. "We call it a hidden retractable microphone design. When you're walking on the street, you can wear it like a fashionable headphone, but when you have a meeting, you just slightly pull it out. The mic automatically unmutes," says Chen.

Noise-cancellation remains the company's primary innovation. During product demos, Chen often uses a hairdryer to demonstrate suppression performance. "I turn it on and keep talking. I always ask, can you hear any noise from my side? They're always surprised to see how powerful it is," he adds.

The company is now applying machine learning to further refine this. "We are using AI technology to improve the noise cancelling. With the help of AI, it can detect the noise more clearly, capture and eliminate it more efficiently," Chen explains.

Yealink's naming conventions are designed to simplify the range. "If you see anything starting with BH, that means Bluetooth headset. If you see anything with UH, that's USB wired headset. It's trying to make things easier for customers to remember us," he says.

Comfort also remains a priority. "For headsets, you really need to get them in your hand, play with it, and find the design you like. You can only touch and feel good quality ear cushions to see how light and comfortable it is," Chen adds.

Strategy and Innovation: Building on Enterprise Expertise

Chen notes that Yealink's consumer push builds on the company's history in enterprise communication. "Yealink is not that popular for consumers right now, but we have built our reputation based on reliability and quality for business. It's about bringing enterprise-grade technology to the daily consumer," he says.

He highlights Yealink's heavy investment in engineering. "We have more than 3000 employees, but more than 50% are from R&D backgrounds. Even the management team: we have seven people and half are from R&D. We invest more than 10% of our revenue into R&D every year," Chen explains.

Brand awareness is the next challenge. "We are lacking brand awareness on the consumer side. Officeworks is helping us. Through the retail channel, it's helpful for making it more accessible for the consumer to understand what Yealink can provide," he adds.

Australia is the first market to receive Yealink's new retail strategy. "Australia is the first market for us to launch with retail. Within the success we build, it will be the blueprint for Yealink's global market. It's a big milestone for us," Chen states.

What Comes Next: Expanding the Vision

Chen reveals that the company plans to broaden its consumer product line. "It's just the start. We are doing lots of new innovation. We are developing open-wearing headsets, like sports headsets, but with a small microphone. When you are listening to music or running you can wear it like a consumer sports headset, but when you have a phone call, you can put the microphone here and make it a professional headset," he says.

He emphasizes Yealink's consistent vision across product categories. "Yealink's vision is helping people communicate and collaborate more easily and more efficiently, no matter where and how they work," Chen concludes.

"Hybrid working is not a temporary solution. It's already there," he reiterates.