Petr Škuta Apple still dominates the wireless headphone market. AirPods continue to be popular, but expectations are not very well met. At the same time, the competition is gaining momentum.
A well-known analytical company Counterpoint Research released its detailed report on the state of the "hearables" market, i.e. truly wireless headphones. On the one hand, it sounds good for Cupertino, but on the other hand, we also find a catch.
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The good news is that AirPods still dominate the wireless headphone market. Although Counterpoint does not disclose sales numbers in the relevant section, according to specific model lines, Apple's headphones are in first place by a large margin.
AirPods thus occupy more than half of the market. Samsung slowly made its way to second place, which took the place from Jabra with the Elite Active 65t headphones. Other places were taken by the companies Bose, QCY, JBL, and the company Huawei had to enter the ranking of the most important ones.
The bad news for Cupertino is that the headphone market share is more or less the same as the quarter before. At the same time, it was expected that the second generation of AirPods would boost sales and Apple would take an even bigger share of the market. It did not happen.
Customers are waiting, the second generation of AirPods did not convince
It is possible that customers they expected more from the second generation than "just" faster pairing, the "Hey Siri" function or a wireless induction charging case. The rumors did not come true, so there was no suppression of the noise or more fundamental news that would convince potential buyers.
Concept of the next generation of AirPods:
Gallery
On the other hand, even the competition cannot rub their hands. Although Samsung is second, it paid a heavy price for its ranking. The predatory marketing campaign came at the expense of profits from headphones. Apple thus continues to lead with its margin, and profits from sales of AirPods are still at a different level than the profits of its competitors. The difference stands out even more if you compare headphones from the opposite end of the scale, for example Huawei.
Overall, however, the market for "audibility" continues to grow and the potential is therefore not exhausted. In a quarterly comparison, there is even a 40% growth in all monitored regions, i.e. North America, Europe and countries with strong economies.
Source: 9to5Mac
