Apple Leads This Product Category In India As Well, And Its Not Smartphones

It seems like Apple’s AirPods are continuing its dominant streak not only in the global wearable market, but also in the Indian wearable market as well. As per the latest IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, for the fourth quarter of 2019, Apple has again emerged at the top position in the truly wireless category after capturing a 43.1% market share.

In India, Apple’s AirPods lineup consists of two models now. While the basic version is selling in India at a starting price of Rs 14,900, the more recently launched and perpetually out-of-stock Apple AiPods Pro are priced at Rs 24,900 in the country.

Even in the global landscape, Apple has been ruling the wearable market. The IDC report for the third quarter of 2019 said that Apple ranked first in the overall global wearable market and has achieved a year-over-year growth of 195.5% at the end of Q3 2019. The iPhone maker shipped 29.5 million units and garnered a 35% market share, said the report.

IDC is not the only research company that has vouched for Apple’s success in the wearable market, Counterpoint Research’s latest Hearables Market Tracker also noted that the Cupertino-based tech giant has emerged at the top position by registering a record steady 44% growth in the fourth quarter of 2019. In fact, the CounterPoint research has claimed that Apple is expected to continue its streak in 2020 as well to maintain a “comfortable lead in the market” and sell a remarkable figure of 100 million true wireless hearables — that also includes the AirPods Pro. This lead is expected to be so comfortable for Apple, that the company may continue to lead this space, as the report says that the competition, in actual fact, is for who is at the runner-up position. “The real competition will be for second place, especially in the premium market,” said Liz Lee, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Even in the smartphone space, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, Apple topped the global smartphone market and shipped 73.8 million iPhones and managed a year-over-year growth of 7.9%, claims IDC. The report further says that the latest iPhone 11 series was a hit and the iPhone 11 was the top-selling model every week during December and the three new models were the top three models throughout the quarter. Perhaps that is why, a report by research firm Omdia claimed that the iPhone 11 is was the second best-selling phone all over the world. In fact, out of the top 10 smartphones list of 2019, Apple has managed to land 5 of iPhones among which all the three latest iPhones — iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max — appeared on the list.―Phone Week