Analyst: Apple AirPods market share is shrinking due to the rise of cheap Chinese brands

Chinese brands are slowly taking over the wireless earpiece market, Counterpoint Research says. Where Apple had a market share of 50 percent last year, this has decreased to 35 percent this year.

The top five further consists of Xiaomi, Samsung, JBL and Jabra, each holding between 3 and 10 percent of the market. The rest of the market, 43 percent, is for mostly Chinese cheaper brands, Counterpoint Research claims in an article by Bloomberg. Those brands, such as 1More and QCY, often sell earphones with many of the functions of more expensive brands for much lower prices.

The total market for earphones is growing from about 120 million copies last year to about double this year, the analyst firm said. More expensive brands such as Audio-Technica and Sennheiser hold about 0.3 percent of the market.

Apple is growing from 61 to 82 million AirPods sold, the analyst firm thinks. Apple itself does not disclose sales figures for its ears and puts them under a general category in its quarterly figures.