WWDC opens doors with good news from AirPods & HomePods

by Jonny Evans · June 6, 2022

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Apple has something to sing about as it prepares for WWDC. The HomePod mini seems to be a big success, according to fresh Strategy Analytics data, even as Canalys claims Apple’s AirPods are by far the biggest-selling TWS headphones in the world.

AirPods took 31.8% TWS market

The Canalys report tells us that AirPods seized 31.8% of the global TWS market, selling around 21.7 million units. That’s up 14% annually, and takes place as second place contender Samsuing sees sales decline 4% to 6.5 million in the same period. Xiaomi retained third place, but saw a 16% decline to 4.9 million units.

“Apple’s AirPods line grew 3% to reach 19.3 million units, while Beats by Dre, Apple’s audio sub-brand, contributed more significant growth, increasing 553% to reach 2.4 million units. Beats’ strong performance was driven by the popularity of its Studio Buds and the recently launched Fit Pro,” the report explains.

[Also read: Will UWB be Apple’s fix for better AirPods music streaming?]

The analysts expect that vendors will begin to explore niches for future growth, such as for fitness or use of headphones in challenging situations, such as adventure sports.

“This strategy will bode well for the post-pandemic world, where users will continue extending their listening habits into their daily lives and hybrid working environments,” said Jason Low, Canalys Principal Analyst.

‘Hey Siri, not that track play the other one’ ‘Here’s music from the other ones’.

HomePod mini, leading from behind

Apple’s HomePod Mini was the top-selling device overall in Q1 2022, at just under 4.5 million units, followed Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo Dot and then Google’s Nest Mini.

While Apple sold fewer smart speakers than Google and Amazon, it sold enough to take third place, which implies the company shifted more HomePod minis than competitors shifted any single product.

HomePod mini sales grew 29.9% year-over-year, a far greater increase than any other competitors saw. Amazon sales climbed 1.5% while Google experienced 6.6% growth.

Overall, Amazon sold 9.9 million smart speakers, topped by the second generation of its Echo Show 5, which accounted for 1.6 million devices. Google is second with an overall sales figure of 6.1 million, topped by an unspecified number of Nest Hub sales. Apple sold 4.5 million HomePod minis.