A new Strategy Analytics report claims that Apple is estimated to have sold 60 million AirPods in 2019, with the overall Truly Wireless Bluetooth earphones category registering a growth of 200% in sales.

Apple alone accounted for 71% of the total revenue generated by the TWS (Truly Wireless) headphones/earbuds market in 2019. Apple had over 50% share of the TWS market followed by Samsung and Xiaomi which held less than 100% market share respectively.

“The market for TWS Bluetooth headphones is wide open,” says Ken Hyers. “Prices for TWS chipsets are in freefall. In the last six months prices for them have halved, opening the door for tens, if not hundreds, of new vendors offering inexpensive TWS Bluetooth headphones. With falling prices has come a surge in sales volumes of lower-end versions of TWS Bluetooth headphones. Consumers unable to afford premium TWS Bluetooth headsets from Apple, Bose, Samsung and others now have plenty of less expensive ones to choose from.”

The 60 million units estimated by Strategy Analytics is similar to what Bloomberg had estimated in November itself last year. One of the key reasons behind Apple doubling its AirPods shipments in 2019 from the previous year was the launch of the AirPods Pro which has become a runaway hit. The earbuds are sold out online for at least the next few weeks and remain in tight supply amidst high demand.

Despite many cheaper TWS earbuds flooding the market, AirPods led both in terms of revenue and the units sold. The analytics firm expects Apple to continue leading the TWS category for at least the next five years.

Our Take

The AirPods have been a runaway success from Apple right from the day they were first launched. It took the competition almost two years to release a proper AirPods competitor and even now, there are very few wireless earbuds out there that can compete with the AirPods Pro in terms of sound quality, battery life, and convenience.