Apple sold almost 60 million AirPods wireless headphones in 2019, according to a market-analysts firm. That’s a dramatic increase from the 35 million the company is estimated to have sold the year before.

And Apple took the lion’s share of 2019 sales of totally wireless (TWS) headsets.

Apple AirPods dominate

“Apple took over 50% share in the TWS category in 2019, while its next two closest competitors, Samsung and Xiaomi, each held less than 10%,” comments Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics.

AirPods took an even higher share of revenue from this product category: 71%. “Apple’s lead isn’t surprising since it created the category,” continued Ukonaho.

These analysts apparently don’t differentiate between AirPods and AirPods Pro, as both are Bluetooth stereo headsets that do not have a wire connecting the two earpieces. The Pro version debuted late last fall, and Apple is still having trouble meeting demand, with wait times up to a month.

A rising tide raises all wireless headphones

Not just Apple is prospering. Revenues from TWS headsets of all brands grew over 200% last year, according to Strategy Analytics.

Even so, AirPods are expected to continue to dominate this product category for years. “It’s unlikely that any single vendor will replace Apple at the top in terms of volume or revenue in TWS Bluetooth headphones in the foreseeable future,” predicted Ukonaho.

Source: Strategy Analytics