Apple AirPods Capture 26% of Wireless Headphone Spending Since Launch [Chart]

Wireless headphones accounted for half of all online headphone sales in 2016, according to data compiled by Slice Intelligence.

In December, a whopping 75 percent of headphones sold online were wireless. It is not coincidental that this was also the month that AirPods launched. On the December 13, the day of the AirPods release, spending on headphones was ten times greater than the pre-holiday average for 2016. It was the largest single day of online headphone spending last year.




Notably, Apple had already dominated the wireless headphone market with its Beats brand. Before launching AirPods, Beats had nearly a quarter of all cordless headphones sales since January 2015. During the early holiday shopping season Beats did capturing 32% of wireless headphone sales over Cyber Weekend. However, AirPods have burst onto the scene, taking the top spot and gaining 26% of wireless headphone spending since its launch.



Eighty-five percent of shoppers who’ve purchased the AirPods since December 13 are male, similar to the gender breakdown we reported for the MacBook Pro release in October. Taking a closer look, data shows that male buyers are younger than their female counterparts. Over one-third of the men who bought a pair of AirPods were Millennials. Among female buyers, Boomers are the largest population, with a share of 38 percent.

Have you had a chance to try Apple's AirPods yet? If you have, let us know what you think in the comments. Is wireless the future?


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