AirPods remain the benchmark for wireless headphones, even if Apple loses its luster

The Counterpoint Research institute has taken stock of the wireless headphones market in 2021 and Apple remains far ahead of the competition.

After the connected watches, it is time to take stock of the sales of wireless headphones in 2021. The Counterpoint Research Institute thus published, last week, the 2021 report of the wireless headphones market, brand by brand.

And the least we can say is that, as with connected watches, Apple remains well ahead of its main competitors in this market for Bluetooth headphones. The American firm alone captured 25.6% market share in 2021. For comparison, the second manufacturer, Xiaomi, only obtained 9% market share. The rest of the classification is as follows:

1. Apple: 25.6% market share
2. Xiaomi: 9.0% market share
3. Samsung: 7.2% market share
4. JBL: 4.2% market share
5. Skullcandy: 4.0% market share
6. QCY: 3.1% market share
7. JLAB: 2.9% market share
8. BoAt: 2.9% market share
9. Edifier: 2.2% market share

A market driven by inexpensive headphones

Sign of a market for wireless headphones still developing and particularly fragmented, the other manufacturers obtain, together, 39% of market share. Concretely, we therefore have an actor who sells more than a quarter of the wireless earphones in the world, four others who sell between 4 and 9% of the earphones and all the others who share half the cake without ever exceeding 4% of market shares.

Note, however, a significant decline for Apple. In 2020, the American firm alone sold 30.2% of wireless headphones in the world and therefore suffered a drop in market share of almost 5 points. Opposite, Samsung has managed to pull out of the game and go from 6.7 to 7.2% market share in one year.

In detail, it is above all headphones offered at an affordable price that have made the market grow. It sold 24% more headphones in 2021 than in 2020. Growth mainly driven by the segment of headphones between 50 and 100 dollars and more than 200 dollars underlines Counterpoint Research. Segments that have mainly been driven by Xiaomi and JBL on the one hand and by Apple on the other.

While entry-level and mid-range wireless headphones have long remained mediocre, a new generation brings features and quality that no longer have much to envy to premium models.
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