Apple AirPods dominant, despite late entrance in 'totally wireless headphone' market segme...
A new market analysis of the headphone market suggests that Apple's AirPods have driven the growth of the totally wireless headphone subcategory, accounting for nearly 85 percent of sales in the segment, as measured by dollars in the US.
Apple's AirPods have in part driven the headphone market by 22 percent when measured by dollar sales, according to a new study by market watchdog NPD. The study cites Bragi and Doppler Labs as being the first entrants into the totally wireless earbud market, but "the entrance of tech titans" have led to a spike in sales in the segment.
Since the start of the year, more than 900,000 totally wireless headphone units, by "mostly Apple" have been sold. Factors leading to the market segment dominance by Apple at present are "disruptive pricing, brand resonance, and excitement over the W1 chip."
To beat Apple in the market, new entrants, like Thursday's Bang and Olufsen and Sony offerings, will "have to provide some differentiation in features, sound quality, or associated services and applications" to challenge the AirPods in the market, according to NPD.
Apple's AirPods shipped to the public in December 2016. The $159 AirPods pair with an Apple iPhone 7 with the W1 wireless chip, and have a five-hour listening time with the included charging case boosting the total to over 24 hours of listening time
Apple's AirPods have in part driven the headphone market by 22 percent when measured by dollar sales, according to a new study by market watchdog NPD. The study cites Bragi and Doppler Labs as being the first entrants into the totally wireless earbud market, but "the entrance of tech titans" have led to a spike in sales in the segment.
Since the start of the year, more than 900,000 totally wireless headphone units, by "mostly Apple" have been sold. Factors leading to the market segment dominance by Apple at present are "disruptive pricing, brand resonance, and excitement over the W1 chip."
To beat Apple in the market, new entrants, like Thursday's Bang and Olufsen and Sony offerings, will "have to provide some differentiation in features, sound quality, or associated services and applications" to challenge the AirPods in the market, according to NPD.
Apple's AirPods shipped to the public in December 2016. The $159 AirPods pair with an Apple iPhone 7 with the W1 wireless chip, and have a five-hour listening time with the included charging case boosting the total to over 24 hours of listening time
Comments
I tried one time coming home from work and luckily they had one.
picked up husband of the year until January.
my airpods are used at work for business and while running. This plug is for anyone one the fence- they sound great and have never once fallen out of my ear while running 6 - 8 miles of single track and full of sweat. They may look the same as the corded, but I can assure you that they are 2 very different products.
Switch back and forth from computer to iPhone is about a 10 second process in beta high Sierra.
Can recharge about 5 times using the included battery pack - about 15 minutes to fully rechatge. Plenty of low battery warning.
Given that Apple competitors largely rely on price for product differentiation, I suspect that Apple is selling the AirPods at slightly over cost to drive switchers to iPhone.
Just another reason, if you needed one, to buy iPhone.
Only thing I’ve noticed is my phone drains faster with the BT and Apple Music streaming.
But still people are purchasing them, and I think is more related to their practicality than sound quality or appearance.
I don't have the AirPods but I do have the Beats with the same W1 chip. There is no latency when I view video on my iPad, AppleTV (4th Gen) or my iPhone. The AirPods I can only assume would be just as good based on the W1 chip.
I have used iTunes, Netflix and several other services across these devices and the experience was consistently great.
I have tried other Bluetooth headphones and speakers which all had at least some degree of latency. Based on my experience I would not recommend any Bluetooth headphones for watching video unless they contained the W1 chip.
Let us look into the Big picture:
Looking at the big picture, the questions that I have:
i) Is "wireless" the "Future" as told by Apple for eliminating the 3.5mm jack? Is it valid anymore, with 99.5% of the people using the "much derided" outdated old technology - wired headphones, instead of embracing the future - i.e. "wireless headphones"?
ii) Don't we have enough evidence already that Apple users (forgetting about tech media/critics etc for a moment) have NOT bought into the "wireless future" that Apple was portraying, with their wallets, with just <1% of them buying into the idea?
iii) Many people in this forum claimed that "wireless is the future". Do you agree that the "actual sales" for about 8 months suggest otherwise, at least for now in 2017? Has "wireless" really arrived? Wasn't Apple putting the horse before the cart?
iv) For those who would argue that the low quantity in sales is due to manufacturing capacity being extremely limited - If the demand for AirPods was 200 million instead of 2 million for the entire year 2017, wouldn't Apple have ramped up production to meet the extra-ordinarily high demand, at least not as low as 1 million for 8 months?
Let me make this clear - I am not saying Airpods are bad. I don't have any clue because I have not bought them or used them. Going by the positive comments from the actual users, it seems to be pretty good. That is besides the point. The actual question is - Is wireless headphones the "future" as claimed by Apple and many people in this forum?
I'm really happy overall with mine, except for controlling the Music app with Siri or taps. The commands are too limited and too specific. I hope this improves.
But they've been a great investment. I hope I feel the same way when their batteries die.