In the third quarter of 2021, Apple’s AirPods and Beats shipments fell by more than 30%, but the company still maintained its dominant position in the market. According to a new Canalys report, Apple’s true wireless stereo equipment-including AirPods, AirPods Pro and Beats By Dre models-shipped in the third quarter of 2021 is estimated to be 17.8 million. This is a year-on-year decrease of 33.7% from the 26.8 million audio accessories Apple shipped in the third quarter of 2020.
Although shipments have plummeted, possibly due to users waiting for the third-generation AirPods, Apple is still the clear market leader-the second-place competitor is not even close.
In the third quarter of 2021, Apple’s market share was 24.6%, lower than 37.6% in the same period last year. Ranked second is Samsung, which includes the company’s Harman subsidiary. The Korean company’s market share in the third quarter was 12%, a slight increase from the previous 10.8%.
Behind Samsung are brands such as Xiaomi, boAt and Edifier, with market shares of 6.8%, 3.8% and 3.8%. All other TWS brands accounted for the remaining 49%.
Overall, global TWS equipment shipments increased only slightly between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021. The shipment of the entire market in the third quarter of 2021 was 72.2 million units, a year-on-year increase of approximately 1.3% over 71.3 million units.
Canalys expects that the entire market will resume strong growth during the holiday season, coupled with the third-generation AirPods released by Apple in October, which has a new design and additional audio features.