Apple’s dominant AirPods misplaced fairly a little bit of market share to Samsung’s Galaxy Buds in 2021
The coronavirus pandemic could not cease the true wi-fi earbuds trade from increasing again in 2020, and unsurprisingly, the identical will also be stated in regards to the Apple-dominated market so far as final 12 months is worried.
Yes, whole world gross sales of so-called true wi-fi stereo (TWS) hearables continued to surge in 2021, leaping from somewhat over 230 million to “round” 300 million models, representing 24 % year-on-year development. While that is on no account a modest quantity, Counterpoint Research had really anticipated a 33 % enhance in quantity, blaming the market’s underperformance on COVID-19 “impression” felt “all year long.”
Apple, which simply topped the seller chart but once more, is partly at fault too, releasing the AirPods 3 later than many analysts and leakers anticipated. The non-Pro product immediately grew to become a success, main your entire market throughout This fall, so we are able to safely assume an earlier industrial debut would have achieved wonders for the corporate and even trade as a complete.



Don’t get us unsuitable, the AirPods 2 and AirPods Pro had been nonetheless very fashionable in 2021, offsetting their superior age with “promotions all year long” to assist Apple enhance its general worldwide shipments by 5 % in comparison with 2020.
But that teeny-tiny development misplaced Cupertino greater than 4 share factors in market share, which is certainly not excellent news for the tech big’s buyers. Curiously sufficient, Xiaomi’s slice of the pie stayed unchanged in second place, permitting Samsung to shut the hole within the bronze medal place.
Thanks primarily to the new new Galaxy Buds Pro and Galaxy Buds 2, the world’s third-largest true wi-fi earbuds vendor elevated its gross sales figures by a strong 33 % whereas boosting its market share from 6.7 % in 2020 to 7.2 % on the finish of 2021.



In the meantime, JBL and Skullcandy deserve some reward too for his or her 2021 progress, with the previous model strongly rivaling Xiaomi within the fast-growing $50 – $100 phase. The greatest income, nevertheless, undoubtedly come from the $200+ phase, the place Apple’s supremacy is just about unimaginable to threaten.