Worldwide Smart Earwear Market Shares, 2022: Apple Leads in a Down Year

This IDC study provides insights into the 2022 hearables market. Apple accounted for 38.2% of the truly wireless hearables market by volume in 2022, slightly lower from 2021 levels despite the release of its AirPods Pro 2. Xiaomi and BoAt followed next, respectively, at second and third place, with a long list of inexpensive smart earwear devices primarily heading for emerging markets. Samsung followed next on the strength of the release of its Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, and JBL rounded out the top 5 with its portfolio of entry-level and midrange devices."Following two years of runaway growth, the smart earwear market has finally reached a point where much of the demand worldwide has been served and the next step is for replacement cycles to kick in," says Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC's Wearables team. "Unfortunately, this means many vendors realized significant year-over-year declines. Still, there were pockets of demand to be found, particularly within emerging markets. Going forward, vendors should be wary of how the replacement market shapes up as consumers may seek to upgrade to more feature-rich devices and aspirational brands."