The bad news is that the global smart personal audio market declined by 1.2% to reach 118.8 million units in the third quarter of 2021 (July to September). But there is good news from India: Its smart personal audio shipments grew 62% in Q3 2021, with 16.6 million units shipped, pushing its worldwide market share to 14%.
These numbers emerged in the latest Canalys report that also said Apple remained the leader in TWS, shipping 17.8 million units, in spite of the actual numbers falling by a third compared to last year. Markets in Western Europe and North America fell 21% and 15% respectively, mainly due to Apple’s shipment slump as consumers waited for the next generation of AirPods.
Samsung, buoyed by a strong performance from the debut of the Galaxy Buds2, and the latest additions from JBL’s TWS entry-level lineup, retained its second place. The South Korean firm had a 12% share of the market in the third quarter, up slightly from 10.8%. Xiaomi is at third place.
- India ships 8 million TWS headphones
- Global TWS market grows at 6.4% in Q2: Its lowest in last 3 years
Indian brand boAt makes a breakthrough
Indian brand boAt has broken into the top five for the first time, shipping 2.8 million units.
Canalys said the TWS (True Wireless Stereo) segment was the main driver in India, growing 92% to reach 7.3 million units.
India's good show comes on the back of strong showing from in-house brands like boAt, Noise and Boult. Among smartphone brands that is into TWS, Realme rapidly grew its shipments, Canalys said. “India has reached a new milestone as the country solidified its position as the third largest TWS market with a market share of 10%,” it added.
But globally, the TWS category grew up by just 1.3% to reach 72.2 million units. The paltry rise was not good enough to offset the fall in wireless headphones and wireless earphones shipments, which decreased by 4.7% and 4.9%, respectively.
On the future market trends, Canalys expects the TWS category to overtake wireless earphones in shipment numbers in India and other markets. The challenge is to ensure robust supply, given the supply chain bottlenecks and the push to manufacture locally, it added.
- Best true wireless earbuds (TWS) under Rs 2,000 in India
- Best true wireless earbuds (TWS) under Rs 3,000 in India
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