AirPods held a disproportionately large share of the global wireless headset market in 2020, according to a new report by Strategy Analytics.
With sales of over 300 million units, the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Bluetooth headset sales market grew by almost 90 percent last year. Apple's AirPods own almost half of the entire market, with the rest being made up of a large number of companies with individually small shares.
In spite of Apple's dominance, Strategy Analytics notes that its lead is shrinking as competition intensifies:
"Apple maintained a commanding lead in the TWS segment in 2020, but its commanding share is shrinking as competition intensifies. Strong competition is expected from Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei in 2021," said Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics. "The TWS headset market is already hugely overcrowded and despite a strong sales outlook, there will inevitably be consolidation in the years ahead."
It is expected that there is still "plenty of potential in the broader Bluetooth headset market," due to low penetration and an install base that remains small. According to Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, "less than one in ten people own a Bluetooth headset globally, so there is still significant room for growth." In addition to this, as vendors move away from bundling wired headsets with new smartphones, Strategy Analytics foresees considerable growth potential in the market.
Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
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Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
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Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released.
iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
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Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
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Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia.
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We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
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McDonald's sells more hamburgers than any other restaurant. Does that make them the best product too?
AirPods happen to be the best product, the most popular and a very sought after one, which translates in an almost unbelievable resale value. Your analogy is out of place.
And now I have a pair of B&O E5 and AirPods with dead batteries, useful to neither man nor beast. while I have wired sets of B&O H6, form2 and some cheap Grados which still work perfectly. My new MW60s will be used in wired mode for as long as humanly possible.
With good reason. The AirPods Pro might be the most versatile and handy true wireless earbuds out there. And after the Spatial Audio update they got a noticeable bump in sound quality.
PS. I also have the Sennheiser Momentum TW2 and even though they destroy the APP in sound quality it's cumbersome to switch modes and the call quality is totally off, so I default back to the APP.
