A new analytical report this morning states that the global market for TWS hearables saw tepid QoQ growth in Q2 2021, as typically strong spring sales waned across the US and Asia ex-China markets, resulting in overall unit sales and value rising by only 1% and 9%, respectively. On a YoY basis, although the market enjoyed 27% growth compared with 2020’s COVID impacted Q2, the rankings saw few new developments, although significant change did arise in terms of market share.

Senior analyst Liz Lee, who oversees TWS hearables research at Counterpoint: "Apple lost considerable share in both sales volume and value despite big price drops on the AirPods, but the company is unlikely to be too worried. I think the 3rd generation AirPods, expected next month, could be a massive consumer hit. It’s been so long since we’ve seen a new release, and if you factor in some attractive pricing, it’s very possible the AirPods 3 could push overall sales for Apple TWS hearables past 80m for the year."

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Lee added that the sub-$100 and premium markets continue inching towards parity in terms of volume. This trend is likely to be accelerated by Apple in the coming months, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the premium segment pushes past 50% in the second half.”

Xiaomi, the king of cheap, was a standout across sub-$100 TWS market to stay ahead of Samsung.