If Jobs pioneered the iPhone and led the smartphone; then Cook created a smart watch, a true wireless Bluetooth headset, and made these two products in their respective fields to achieve a stronger position than the iPhone in the field of smart phones, whether it is a smart watch or a true wireless Bluetooth headset Apple is the undisputed global first.
But now Apple's true wireless Bluetooth headset has encountered problems, and on December 14, the well-known data research company Canalys released a report that analyzed the global TWS market in the third quarter of 2021. Let's first look at the rankings:
Champion: Apple, with 17.8 million units in shipments and a market share of 24.6%, plunging 33.7% year-on-year;
Runner-up: Samsung, shipments of 8.7 million units, market share of 12.0%; year-on-year increase of 12.7%;
Runner-up: Xiaomi, shipments of 4.9 million units, market share of 6.8%, down 21.3% year-on-year;
Fourth place: boAt, shipments of 2.8 million units, market share of 3.8%, a year-on-year surge of 220.5%;
Fifth place: Edifier, with shipments of 2.7 million units, a market share of 3.8%, an increase of 10.1% year-on-year.
See? Although Apple still ranks first, its market share and shipments are plummeting year-on-year. Apple's AirPods shipments in the same period last year were as high as 26.8 million units, and this year there were only 17.8 million units, a full 10 million units less; the market share in the same period last year was as high as 37.6%, and the remaining 24.6% this year, a full 13 percentage point decline.
But we found that without Q2, the global TWS market as a whole is a state of growth, which means that Apple's market has been eaten by other brands. This is definitely not a good thing for Apple, just like when the iPhone became the world's first and then was surrounded by the Android brand.
But data research companies believe that this phenomenon is temporary, with the hot sales of the iPhone 13 series and the release of The AirPods 3, Apple's market will have a rebound phenomenon. Because from the perspective of the industry, although TWS can be used by buying one at will, the pairing of the same brand is obviously the best experience. In addition, users who buy the iPhone 13 series are unlikely to buy other brands of TWS.