AirPods face slowing growth as Apple eyes ways to expand sales

AppleInsider

AirPods have become one of Apple's biggest accessory hits, but the company faces the tough challenge of driving repeat sales in a market that's showing signs of fatigue.


AirPods Pro

A Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) report claims about 40% of iPhone owners use Bluetooth earbuds, with roughly 60% of them choosing AirPods. That equates to about 25% of iPhone users overall.

While a quarter of Apple's massive installed base is nothing to dismiss, it's also not the kind of saturation that guarantees easy future growth.

Apple is expected to introduce a new AirPods 2025 generation in September. But discount-heavy sales and slowing AirPods market share trends suggest challenges ahead that analysis glosses over.

Steep discounts raise questions about demand

Amazon's July Prime Day featured a $100 discount on AirPods Pro 2. Best Buy and Walmart matched the price cut. The price dropped from $249 to $149, which is rare for a premium Apple product.

CIRP suggests Apple may have used these Amazon Prime Day AirPods discounts simply to "sell a lot of AirPods" because of its strong supply chain. That explanation downplays an obvious question.

Why would Apple, famously strict about margins and pricing, allow third-party retailers to slash prices so deeply if demand were healthy? A more plausible reading is that Apple sees sales momentum slowing.

The company may be willing to sacrifice margin to pull in more users before launching new models. Apple didn't discount AirPods on its own channels.

Bluetooth headset use and AirPods share among iPhone buyers for the 12 months ending March 2025. Image credit: CIRP

That signals it wants to maintain its brand value and avoid training customers to expect lower prices. Apple can target price-sensitive buyers through third parties without officially cheapening its own premium image.

Shorter replacement cycles aren't a growth guarantee

CIRP contends that as iPhone users upgrade their phones less frequently, Apple can depend on AirPods to bridge the revenue gap. The replacement cycle for AirPods is shorter compared to iPhones.

Batteries tend to wear out, and people often lose one of the earbuds. Consequently, replacements for AirPods are more common.

But that also exposes a weakness. Customers recognize that AirPods have limited battery longevity and are difficult to repair or recycle.

Apple's promise to lead in sustainability conflicts with a business model reliant on near-disposable accessories. Critics have already pointed to AirPods sustainability as an e-waste problem Apple has yet to seriously solve.

While replacements generate revenue, they don't expand Apple's base of new AirPods users. About a quarter of iPhone owners already have AirPods.

Overall Bluetooth earbud growth is slowing. Apple can't rely on replacements alone to deliver meaningful unit growth.

Competitive pressures and pricing risks

Apple also faces competition. Samsung, Sony, Bose, and many budget brands offer alternatives that undercut AirPods on price. Some rivals deliver better repairability or longer battery life.

The company's brand loyalty remains strong. Even among iPhone users, budget options are gaining ground.

Apple's next AirPods generation will need to deliver genuine improvements if it hopes to grow share among iPhone owners who haven't yet bought in. That could include better battery life, health tracking, improved sound quality, or deeper integration with Apple's services ecosystem.



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hammeroftruth

This has been going on for awhile now. Discount sales by Amazon, Best Buy and Target were common before any holiday like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduation season, Valentine’s Day, and right around Christmas. Also Costco, but they don’t count because of the membership fee. 

It’s more of a loss leader to get you to buy other things while you’re there. That’s why some retailers have the sale as a pickup only, to get you to shop in the store. 

Still I think the Apple stores sell a lot of them even without a discount and the back to school promo right now is giving away certain models I think. 

jvm156

Has Anyone ever Paid $249 for AirPods Pro? I can't imagine. They're pretty much always on sale for at least $189 or often $169

charlesn

With the epidemic of hearing loss in this country that's only going to get worse over time (and which one could argue that Apple helped foster), Apple should take its "hearing aid hobby" with which it's experimenting in the Airpods Pro 2 and jump into the hearing aids business with both feet. The AirPods list for $249 and routinely sell for $169 or less, while Sony's earpod-type hearing aid, the CRE-C20, lists and actually sells for $1,000 and is considered a bargain. Seems like there's a pretty great profit margin in hearing aids hardware. It's also a VERY fragmented industry, ripe for disruption, where no one company has the miniaturized audio knowledge, design expertise and financial resources that Apple could bring to such a project--it could make hearing aids mainstream and even fashionable, two words never associated with hearing aids. As Apple searches for new products in which to invest, this seems like pretty low-hanging fruit to me. 

mikethemartian

I'm surprised they don't officially sell different colors or patterns like they do with watch bands.

hammeroftruth

mikethemartian said:

I'm surprised they don't officially sell different colors or patterns like they do with watch bands.

They reserve that for Beats right now I think. It would be nice to have different colors other than white. 

nubus

A 40% attach rate is fantastic. How to improve? Sell more iPhones! It will make people buy AirPods (not only Pro) and services. Lowering the entry point is IMHO key and 16e is too expensive. Think like Gillette and get more units out.

cheesefreeze

jvm156 said:

Has Anyone ever Paid $249 for AirPods Pro? I can't imagine. They're pretty much always on sale for at least $189 or often $169

Me. And in Euros too. The problem is that every supplier - and I mean every - charges the exact same amount here. 

jvm156

I mean ya only gotta buy em every 4 year for so when the battery becomes useless. 

preclarotipo

I pass them down to my kids and I’d buy another pair as soon as they release a new (pro) model. I think they need to release incremental updated models more often.  Even at a discount I don’t want to buy another pair of AP Pro 2. 

macxpress

The problem with them is...they work so well and sound so good there's no reason to upgrade. Even if new ones came out tomorrow I have no reason what so ever to upgrade mine. They made the product so well and they sold extremely well now there's no reason to swap them, even for a newer version. I guess maybe when the batteries start to degrade too much is when it's time to get new ones. 

edited July 16

charlesn

macxpress said:

The problem with them is...they work so well and sound so good there's no reason to upgrade. 

Have to agree, although never underestimate Apple's ability to come up with some new features that will make it a must buy! In my case, the performance of the AirPods Pro 2 have pretty much relegated my AirPods Max to the headphone stand. I just can't justify shlepping them along, even on long international flights, because the AirPods Pro 2 sound THAT good, and the noise-cancelling is superb. 

entropys

macxpress said:

The problem with them is...they work so well and sound so good there's no reason to upgrade. Even if new ones came out tomorrow I have no reason what so ever to upgrade mine. They made the product so well and they sold extremely well now there's no reason to swap them, even for a newer version. I guess maybe when the batteries start to degrade too much is when it's time to get new ones. 

Totally agree. I asked Mrs Entropy if she wanted to replace her old APP 1s for her birthday and was told there was nothing wrong with them, so no. as she uses them everyday  I doubt her battery life is that flash anymore, but she never wears them for more than a couple of hours at a time anyway, then straight into the case. 

That said, if they released new models more frequently they might sell in greater volumes. Oh, and drop the price a third at least. at these prices they are not an impulse buy.

edited July 17

jeffharris

Improve the sound quality. 

I have the AirPods Pro and while they’re okay, the sound isn’t great.

How about a dual-driver version with better sound?

Also, I got a set of Comply memory foam ear pads to replace the stock white pads and they actually stay in my ears!

edited July 17

davgreg

jvm156 said:

I mean ya only gotta buy em every 4 year for so when the battery becomes useless. 

Apple likes to yammer about sustainability and green and then seals up every item it sells so that you cannot use a replaceable battery from Trackpads, Keyboards and Mice to Phones, Tablets and Laptops.

regurgitatedcoprolite

I've had AirPods since the original design, then the original AirPods Pro, and AirPods 3 (I think). I gave up using them because they are too easily lost, but mostly because they are not as reliable as wired EarPods. 

Thanks to the whole Convid debacle, I had to use Zoom to conduct business as a counselor, and when I used the wireless headphones, they would drop off line or connect with my iPhone right in the middle of a session instead of remaining connected to my iPad. Talk about frustrating !!! Every time a glitch happened, the flow of the session got derailed. So, I have gone back to using EarPods. 

Granted they are not as convenient in some ways as the wireless AirPods, but they are 100% reliable . . . and far less expensive--$19 for a pair that will last many months.