Shipments of AirPods are expected to double this year to 60 million units, driven in part by the AirPods Pro (via Bloomberg).
60M
The increase in shipments has been driven by two things: The release of the upgraded “AirPods 2” model back in March, and the AirPods Pro released this October. It also helps that Apple doesn’t have much competition yet. Microsoft’s headphones won’t be released until spring 2020 and Google’s buds won’t have a new model until 2020. Only Samsung’s Galaxy Buds are a worthy alternative.
Total shipments of the AirPods Pro for the year will be determined by how well and how quickly the assemblers overcome the production challenges they currently face. If the overall AirPods range hits 60 million units in 2019 as is now expected, Apple should retain its 50% share of the true wireless market, which Counterpoint expects to surpass 120 million shipments for the year.
Bloomberg cites “people familiar with the Cupertino-based company’s production plans” when it comes to that figure of 60 million.
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