The headphone market has been better. And the current situation is dire, as what was recorded in double-digit growth now has a proportional decrease. In the last quarter of 2022, according to data provided by Canalys, shipments fell 26% to 112.1 million units, with wireless headphones down 36%.
In the case of True Wireless Stereo (TWS), which until today have been the industry’s driving force, the scenario is -23% and 79.5 million units sold worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2022. In relation to 2022 as a whole , the drop was 2% in shipments, with 287.7 million units shipped.
In terms of branding, Apple continues to be the leader, even recording a year-on-year contraction of 30 percentage points, influenced by the strong performance of Cupertino-based devices (including Beats-branded products) in the last quarter of 2021.
The second-generation AirPods Pro, announced in September, alone account for 63% of the company’s shipments of this type of product. Throughout 2022, the Apple sold 91.4 million TWS devicesholding 31.8% of the market share and containing the drop in shipments to -1%.
Samsung (along with JBL and other brands that refer to the subsidiary Harman) is in second place and in the fourth quarter of 2022 it recorded a contraction of 24%. Compared to the full year, -10%, it was more restrained and shipped 25.6 million units in 12 months with a market share of 8.9% (7.5% in 4Q).
Thirdly, Xiaomi had shipments reduced by 49% in the last quarter and by 34% for the whole of 2022. The share is 5.3% (4.4% in the last three months of the year).
In fourth place is the Indian boAt, which even with a disappointing fourth quarter with a contraction of 15% manages to close the year with a total of +52% and a market share of 4.4%. Behind him, Skullcandy (-15% in 2022) surpassed in the last quarter by Oppo, which recorded an 11% increase in shipments and gained 3% share (it was 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021).
Canalys also analyzed the market trend by price range. In the case of TWS devices that cost between 200 and 299 dollars, there was a 44% increase in units sold, thanks mainly to the second generation AirPods Pro. It is also worth noting that the cheapest products, with a sale price of less than US$100, represent 53.1% of total shipments, compared to 48% a year ago.
Finally, the market analysis firm estimates that there will be a 5% drop for the audio market in 2023, a contraction that will be capped at 2% as far as TWS products are concerned.
