Samsung had overtaken Xiaomi and the second-largest vendor for true wireless speakers (TWS), or wireless earphones, during the third quarter, according to analyst firm Canalys.
Apple continued to dominate the sector with a market share of 24.6%, followed by Samsung’s 12% and Xiaomi’s 6.8%, during the quarter.
The iPhone maker had held a share of 26.5% during the second quarter, which was followed by Xiaomi’s 9.1% and Samsung’s 8.8% at the time.
According to Canalys, Samsung shipped 8.7 million units of wireless earphones during the third quarter, an increase of 12.7% year-on-year.
The South Korean firm saw its Galaxy Buds 2 perform well while it added cheaper earphone options, which allowed it to increase its share, the analyst firm noted.
TheElec reported earlier that Samsung was planning to manufacture over 30 million units of wireless earphones this year.
It will produce a million unit of Buds Pro; 2 million units of Buds Live; 13.4 million units of Buds 2; 8.1 million units of Buds Pro 2; and 5.5 million units of Buds Live 2.
Meanwhile, Canalys said Apple shipped 17.8 million units of wireless earphones during the third quarter, down 33.7% from a year ago.
This was because consumers were waiting for Cupertio’s next-generation earphones, the analyst firm said.
Apple is expected to see its TWS shipment grow during the fourth quarter thanks to the launch of Gen 3 AirPods and the quarter being the holiday sales season.
At the same time, Xiaomi saw shipment decline 21.4% over the same time period.
Canalys said the drop is due to the Chinese smartphone giant focusing on the premium market for earphones.
Meanwhile, the analyst firm also noted that 16.6 million units of TWS were shipped in India during the third quarter, making it the third-largest market for the product after the US and China.
Local Indian companies such as boAt, Noise, Boult as well as China’s Realme were performing well in the sector, the firm noted.
Other companies such as Jabra, Sony and JBL were also adding TWS at various price points to expand their share, it added.
