Samsung sells less wireless earphones than Xiaomi in Q3

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics took home the third-largest share in the global wireless earphone market with 6% in the third quarter of this year, a notch lower than Xiaomi, which jumped to second place from fourth in the previous quarter. In first place was Apple.

According to data compiled by market research firm Counterpoint Research on Nov. 15, this marks a step down from second place in Q2 for Samsung. Apple’s market share was 45%, which was smaller than its second quarter figure, despite that it sold more of its second generation Airpods.

Xiaomi’s share rose on the back of robust sales of its Redmi AirDots in China. But in terms of total sales, it remained at eighth place as most of its products were mid or low-tier.

At fourth place was JBL, which launched TUNE 120 in July. It was followed by Beats, which showcased high-end products such as the Powerbeats Pro in May. Then came China’s new brand Amoi, which beat QCY to shoot up to sixth place.

Global quarterly sales of wireless earphones stood at 33 million units worth $4.1 billion. North America accounted for the largest 31%. It was also the largest market where more than 10 million earphones were sold. Meanwhile, sales in China rose 44% on-quarter.

In the fourth quarter, tech firms are expected to launch promotional campaigns to spur sales. New models are also to be rolled out, such as Airpod Pro from Apple, Echo Buds from Amazon, Surface Earbud from Microsoft and Jabra’s Elite 75t. Worldwide, Counterpoint Research estimates up to 120 million wireless earphones to be sold this year.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.