Apple may have slipped from second place in global smartphone shipments, looking unlikely to surpass Huawei anytime soon despite the latter's Western woes, but when it comes to tablets, smartwatches, and true wireless earbuds, the Cupertino-based tech giant still has no rival in terms of both sales volume and revenue.
According to the latest report published by Counterpoint Research, Apple accounted for a dominant 45 percent share of the thriving "hearables" market in Q3 2019, which naturally crushed the numbers of the industry's silver and bronze medalists. We're talking a humble 9 percent piece of the pie for Xiaomi, and obviously, an even smaller 6 percent score for Samsung in third place.
Given no less than 33 million "true wireless hearables" were shipped in total around the world between July and September, that means Apple sold close to 15 million units, while Xiaomi and Samsung trailed far behind with roughly 3 and 2 million tallies respectively. Interestingly, both Apple and Samsung lost a few percentage points in share compared to Q2 2019, although actual AirPods shipments posted a modest sequential increase from around 14.3 million units in the April - June timeframe.
It's important to highlight Apple's numbers exclude sales made by subsidiary Beats, which were apparently enough to propel the latter brand to fifth place overall in the global vendor chart of Q3 as the Powerbeats Pro had their first full quarter on the market. What's even more remarkable is that Apple and Beats were ranked first and second in terms of revenue generated by their true wireless earbuds, with Samsung following in third place and Xiaomi unsurprisingly ranked much lower due to the low price of the company's main AirPods alternatives.
Looking ahead, the overall market is expected to grow even further after high-profile new releases from Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and various other major companies, as well as year-end promotions including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. All in all, Counterpoint forecasts 2019 shipments will reach around 120 million units, and although Apple should easily retain its top spot in the vendor rankings, increasing competition could continue to negatively impact the leader's market share.
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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