Apple’s Q4 2021 earnings revealed mixed growth for its True Wireless Stereo (TWS) offerings. Apple showed with the fourth quarter that it is still the king of Christmas season sales. The fourth quarter has traditionally been the best for Apple and this year was no different.
The star of the fourth quarter 2021 was the newly launched AirPods 3 that broke all records for a first quarter introduction for AirPods. However, despite the huge success of the long-anticipated refresh, Apple TWS AirPods shipments for the fourth quarter 2021 declined -12% YoY. Revenues declined -9% YoY.
Beats had a record-breaking quarter in the fourth quarter of 2021 as they managed to grow TWS shipments by 158% and TWS revenues by 103% YoY with the help of their expanding TWS line-up.
- Apple and Beats have a healthy TWS business.
- Apple is sluggish in releasing new refreshed versions of its TWS headsets and it is affecting the shipments growth.
- Beats has taken a very aggressive style to expand the portfolio and is becoming a serious contender in TWS space.
- AirPods Pro 2 in 2022 will be a welcomed refresh to the premium TWS category and will surely also help Apple’s growth further.
Clients of Strategy Analytics
Bluetooth Device Tracker service can learn more from the report
Insight: Combined AirPods and Beats TWS Shipments Grow in 2021