India has cemented its position as the third largest market for true wireless stereo (TWS) headphones with a market share of 10%, according to a market analysis firm. The TWS in-ear headphone market grew 92% domestically, reaching 7.3 million shipments in Q3 2021. Growth in the TWS segment helped expand the domestic smart personal audio market by 62 %, with 16.6 million units shipped. The remarkable Indian growth comes at a time when the global smart personal audio market fell 1.2% to 118.8 million units.
Canalys said in latest report that the smart personal audio market in North America is down 15%, while Western Europe is down 21%. This is mainly due to a drop in Apple’s shipments as consumers anticipate the next generation of smartphones AirPods paradigm.
However, the decline in global regions did not affect the market of smart personal audio products including TWS earbuds in India. In fact, Canalys notes that domestic growth has helped push its worldwide market share to 14%.
“The strong performance is thanks to local brands, such as Boat, Noise, and Boult, as well as smartphone players, such as Myself, are growing their TWS shipments rapidly,” said Ashweej Aithal, Canalys Research Analyst.
Globally, the company said its TWS headset portfolio grew slightly by 1.3% to reach 72.2 million units. This is due to the decline of wireless headphones and earphones.
Canalys reports that shipments of wireless headphones are down 4.7% and wireless headphones are down 4.9%.
In the TWS headset category, Apple continues to lead the global domination with shipments reaching 17.8 million units. However, Canalys said the company’s shipments were down by almost a third from a year ago due to a significant drop in demand for AirPods. It is due to the wait for AirPods (3rd generation) that debut in October.
After Apple, Samsung defeated Xiaomi second in the market. It is supported by a strong performance from the launch of Galaxy Buds 2 Canalys says the earbuds and the latest additions from JBL’s TWS entry-level models.
Canalys emphasized that Xiaomi moved up to third place because it was unable to scale its affordable Redmi lineup in the market.
Interestingly, India’s Boat became one of the top five TWS suppliers globally in the third quarter. The company shipped 2.8 million units, giving it a 3.8% market share. It was up from 0.9 million units shipped with a market share of 1.2% in the same quarter last year. Substantial growth has helped Boat mark a year-over-year increase of 220.5 percent.
Next is China’s Boat Edifier, ranked 5th with 2.7 million units.
Worldwide TWS Shipments and Growth in Q3 2021 according to Canalys
| Seller | Shipments in the third quarter of 2021 (in millions) | Q3 2021 share | Q3 2020 shipments | Q3 2020 share | Annual growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple (including Beats) | 17.8 | 24.6% | 26.8 | 37.6% | -33.7% |
| Samsung (including Harman subsidiaries) | 8.7 | 12.0% | 7.7 | 10.8% | 12.7% |
| Xiaomi | 4.9 | 6.8% | 6.3 | 8.8% | -21.3% |
| Boat | 2.8 | 3.8% | 0.9 | 1.2% | 220.5% |
| Edifier | 2.7 | 3.8% | 2.5 | 3.5% | 10.1% |
| Is different | 35.4 | 49.0% | 27.2 | 38.1% | 30.1% |
Canalys forecasts the global TWS market will return to substantial growth in Q4 for the holiday season as Apple has brought in new AirPods and companies including Jabra, Sony and JBL are bringing in their new models. at various prices.
“These players are pressured to lower the average selling price of their TWS devices to stay competitive in the market,” said Canalys Research analyst Sherry Jin.
Analyst Aithal thinks there could be a turning point when the TWS category overtakes wireless headphones in terms of shipments in India and other markets.
“The challenge is to secure a strong supply, amid supply chain bottlenecks and a push in domestic production,” he said.
Earlier this month, the International Data Corporation (IDC) reported that devices including TWS earbuds have led the wearables market globally. annual growth of 9.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021. It mentions that Apple leads the market, followed by Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei.
