The global market size for true wireless hearables beat expectations, growing more than 50% in 4Q 2019, this is now more than 50m units a quarter, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Hearables Market Tracker. The US market was the main driver for the quarter, growing more than 75% QoQ and accounting for more than 30% of the global market on the back of seasonal promotions and Apple’s new model launch.

Apple expected to lead the true wireless hearables market, selling more than 100m units in 2020. Competition for second place will remain fierce, especially in the premium market.

The launch of Apple’s new AirPods Pro model in late October helped the company record steady 44% growth in 4Q 2019, despite supply shortages. Apple’s market share fell slightly but still had more than 40% share (see Exhibit 1). It attempted to keep up with swift overall market growth; market share for the full year reached close to 50%.

The US$100-and-above segment saw Apple, Samsung and Jabra accounting for more than 80% of 4Q19 sales (see Exhibit 2), as demand surged in developed countries to see overall quarterly growth of 66%.  Apple doesn't competed in the junky under $100 market so we've left that chart out of the report.

“We expect Apple to sell more than 100m true wireless hearables in 2020, including AirPods Pros, to maintain their comfortable lead in the market,” said Liz Lee, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research.  “The real competition will be for second place, especially in the premium market; Samsung, which had success with Galaxy Buds last year, will need further upgrades to those expected in the Galaxy Buds Plus, including noise cancellation and other advanced features and designs, in order to beat its rivals.”

Samsung introduced new Galaxy Buds+ yesterday at their Unpacked event in San Francisco.