Becoming the portal for connected smart home appliances, TWS (True Wireless Stereo) products are among the most rapidly growing consumer electronic products.
The following is a summary of the landscape of the Chinese TWS market in 1H 2020. For other analyses on that topic, please check parts 1 and 2 of Chinese TWS overview.
► The Chinese TWS market has higher year-over-year growth rates than the global market.
► Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi are the top three smart shippers in China, while globally Huawei's position is taken by Samsung Electronics.
► Nearly 50% of the Chinese hearable market is occupied by brandless products, which present further growth room for big electronic vendors.
According to IDC, the first half of 2020 witnessed market expansion both in China and globally.
In China, the shipments of wireless earbuds reached 42.56 million, presenting 49% year-over-year growth. Among the total, true wireless stereos (TWS) take 64%. Though the Chinese market expands rapidly, the market still presents great growth potential as the category 'others' take nearly half of the total shipment, which the sum of Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ), Huawei and Xiaomi (01810:HK) lags behind. Apple's Airpods in China take the first position except for the 'others' at 18% of the total, followed by Huawei at 10.1% and Xiaomi at 8.3%.
Globally, the shipments of hearable products grew 32.6% during the same period. Apple led the charge here as it managed to ship 23.7 million Airpods and Beats products, followed by Samsung and Xiaomi. The global hearable market is dominated by smartphone brands as the opportunity to bundle remains high.