Airpods: Saturalized market in the USA?

Apple’s Airpods are now a billion dollar business: in 2026 Apple could allegedly exceed $ 100 billion sales with earplugs and over-ears. However, business could get a growth problem at least in the largest market, the United States: according to one Investigation of the market researcher CIRP The AirPods will soon reach a saturation level. Around 26 percent of all iPhone users are already said to have Airpods in this market. 44 percent have Bluetooth headphones at all, 59 percent of them grabbed Apple. According to the market researcher, it seems unclear whether this rate can be increased in view of the competition. A potential brake is the longer product cycles in airpods. Unlike the iPhone, they do not appear every year.

Good luck, but not successful enough

An interesting data point is the discounts that Apple reseller offered their customers as part of the youngest Prime Days. Amazon sold the Airpods Pro 2 around $ 100 cheaper, and other large US dealers such as Walmart and Best Buy also followed up. The plugs were also cheaper in Germany: Amazon delivered the cheapest price at the time at the time, at least 90 euros less than Apple. “The AirPods are a success, but have to be even more successful,” said Circ.

However, it could also be that Apple and its dealers simply wanted to “sell a lot of Airpods” – and had enough scope at the margin to press significant quantities into the market. Of course, Apple itself did not take over, this almost never makes this, with the exception of problem markets such as China last on the iPhone. Apple users know that resellers usually have the cheaper prices than Apple itself.

Waiting for new models

Against the saturation of the market that Apple comes on the market more regularly with new models. The current situation: The Airpods Pro 2 came onto the market in 2022, and in 2023 there was a small update with USB-C and a slightly improved H2 chip.

The regular Airpods (4th generation) are still comparatively fresh (from autumn 2024). With the Airpods Max, only USB-C (including USB audio) was added last year, but nothing changed in drivers and chips. With Beats, however, Apple has another audio brand in the hindquarters, which positions itself cheaper and “hipper”.