Apple AirPods are the best true wireless earphones in the US

Recently, Counterpoint released a new report about 5 most used earphone brands in the US Market. Unsurprisingly, Apple wons the charts with its Apple AirPods, edging out competitors Bose, Samsung, Sony, and also its own Beats.

Apple got the first position with 57% users' preference. The 2nd position got by Boss with 39% users' preference, while the third position claimed by Samsung with 33% users' preference.

The smartphone market is usually driven by operator channels. But unlike the smartphone market, hearable devices spread across multiple sales channels in which online channels dominate the hearable purchase market because of convenience, special promotions, bundle offers, and seasonal discounts, etc.

The Counterpoint survey also states, "As shipments increase for wireless hearables, use of artificial intelligence (AI) in voice tech is emerging with many new applications. Almost half of the respondents in our survey are aware of AI in hearables, and one in three respondents have used it in the past. According to the analysis, about 70% of respondents now consider it an important feature for future hearable purchases, and around 30% of the respondents who are aware of AI features will likely pay more to have this in their next hearable. This indicates a big opportunity for such a feature. Basic features for regular users are the most important. Features like control of music and volume through voice-commands, smart ambient noise cancellation, voice search, hand-free calling are the most common usage preference highlighted by the respondents."

In the Counterpoint survey, it was also revealed that close to three out of five survey respondents had already bought a pair of wireless headphones or earphones in the US. Nearly half of the survey respondents bought or received ( as a gift ) their hearables more than a year ago, and almost 40% of the survey respondents were willing to buy a hearable in the next year. This clearly shows that wireless is the future. Premium smartphones today come without headphone jacks ( the trend was first started by the HTC G1 smartphone ), which is only helping to increase the adoption of wireless hearables among premium smartphone users as well. This indicates a definite shift in consumer preference from wired to wireless hearable devices in the coming future.

According to the Counterpoint report, Apple AirPods are comfortable, portable and its ease of use made them the consumer's first choice. But this is not what everybody thinks. Most people buy these AirPods just because it’s from Apple Inc. People also say that the quality of Boss earphones is better than theirs.

Apple invested a lot in wearables and hearable with Apple Watch and AirPods in the past, which is now a major part of the company’s earning. In fact, a report stated that the profitability of these two product categories will soon surpass combined revenues from the iPad and Mac lines.

As a whole, the wireless hearables managed to top 27 million units globally in the 2nd quarter of 2019 and these are growing at a quarterly rate of 56% in the US, Europe, and China Markets.