Photo Credit: Thom Bradley
Just how popular are Apple’s AirPods? According to Bloomberg estimates, the Cupertino giant raked in $18 billion in revenue on AirPods sales last year. That’s more than Spotify ($14B), Nintendo ($12B), eBay ($10B), and Intuit ($12B).
The figure cited is revenue and not profit, but it still highlights just how popular the bite-sized earbuds have become for iOS users. Apple has shipped an estimated 550 million units of AirPods since they were introduced eight years ago. They were introduced alongside the iPhone 7, which was the first iPhone not to feature a headphone jack. The migration to wireless earbuds and headphones was swift for iPhone users and a pay-day for Apple.
With wired earbuds no longer provided for free with every iPhone purchase, Apple was able to turn a negative product cost into a positive revenue flow. AirPods are also notorious for how easy they are to lose, which often end up with one earbud left on planes, trains, and in grandma’s automobile. In fact, AirPods owners spent an estimated $700 million just replacing lost earbuds. While we don’t have exact figures, estimates on Apple’s revenue per year attributed to AirPods has seen double-digit growth each year.
Apple AirPods Revenue By Year
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- 2017 — $1.76 billion
- 2018 — $3.2 billion (+82%)
- 2019 — $6.1 billion (+90%)
- 2020 — $10.1 billion (+65%)
- 2021 — $12.1 billion (+20%)
- 2022 — $14.5 billion (+19%)
- 2023 — $18 billion (+24%)
Apple’s AirPods are the best-selling wireless earbuds on the market and account for around 34.4% of the wireless earbud market in the United States alone. They’re also the top choice worldwide for anyone in the market for true wireless sound (TWS), accounting for 19% of global market share for the hearables segment. The only other brand that comes close on a global scale is Sony (17%), Samsung (16%), BOSE (10%), Sennheiser (5%), LG (4%), and Jabra (2%).
AirPods themselves account for around 5-7% of Apple’s total revenue, highlighting why the tech company made the switch from free earbuds to premium TWS add-on. It’s estimated that AirPods sales could reach as high as $22 billion this year after the holiday season. By 2030, analysts expect AirPods will generate $45 billion in yearly revenue for Apple—surpassing iPad sales. Apple expects the attachment rate to iPhone buyers for AirPods will reach 60% by 2030.