If you thought Apple's lead in the global smartwatch and tablet markets was impressive, wait until you hear how the Cupertino-based tech giant is doing in the relatively young but fast-growing TWS (totally wireless) Bluetooth headset industry.
Believe it or not, more than one in two pairs of true wireless earbuds sold in 2019 were AirPods, and Apple dominated the chart even more comfortably in terms of revenue, with a whopping 71 percent slice of the overall pie. In other words, all the rest of the world's vendors of "totally wireless" Bluetooth stereo headsets settled for a combined share of under 50 percent of shipments and a measly 29 percent of the industry's earnings total last year.
What's perhaps even more remarkable is that Beats was 2019's third-ranked brand by revenue, which means Apple actually pocketed more than 71 percent of the market's overall proceeds. As far as sales volumes are concerned, Beats only came in sixth position, which isn't entirely shocking given the brand's rookie Powerbeats Pro true wireless earbuds effort made its commercial debut in May.
It also shouldn't come as a surprise that Samsung ranked second by revenue with the popular Galaxy Buds, but the shipment silver medal was actually secured by Xiaomi with its significantly more blatant AirPods copycat. The dirt-cheap AirDots could only propel their manufacturers to seventh place in the revenue chart, behind Bose, Jabra, and Huawei in addition to the Apple-Samsung-Beats triad.
All in all, Apple sold a breathtaking 60 million or so AirPods units in 2019, playing an obviously pivotal role in the market's 200 percent year-on-year growth. Unsurprisingly, the early and totally dominant industry leader is expected to retain its crushing supremacy for a long, long time. At least "through the middle of the next decade", according to Strategy Analytics, although these long-term predictions should generally be taken with a proverbial grain of salt.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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