Demand for wireless headphones has grown in Russia since the beginning of the year by one and a half times
Demand for wireless headphones in January-April increased in Russia by more than one and a half times
In January-April, the demand for wireless headphones in Russia increased by more than one and a half times compared to the same period last year, Apple devices continue to hold the leading positions in the market, the interviewed market participants told RIA Novosti.
“In the first four months of this year, over 8 million headphones were sold in Russia, which exceeded the figure for the same period last year by almost 18%. The most popular form factor with a share of about 60% and the category driver are fully wireless TWS headphones, which are improving technically and becoming more accessible due to the expansion of the offer in the basic and middle price segment and the emergence of new brands. TWS showed an increase of more than 1.5 times in the Russian market,” said the M.Video-Eldorado group.
They also noted that the total share of wireless models in Russia as a whole was 70%, only in the network – 82%. At the same time, the leaders in the category are Apple, JBL, Honor, Redmi, Samsung, Huawei, Realme, Sony, Soundcore and Hoco.
The popularity of Apple headphones is also recorded in Citylink, including in May. “Apple’s wireless headphones have been and remain one of the most popular on the market in this category. In Citilink, sales dynamics in May year-on-year show an increase of 10% in units and 21% in money,” said the head of the Telecom Mobile purchasing group. retailer Pavel Rabotenko.
“The demand for headphones in the online segment continues to grow now: in January-April 2023, residents of our country purchased them at Wildberries by 192% more than a year earlier. Most often, Russians purchase wireless TWS headphones on our online platform and spend on they are about 2,000-3,000 rubles,” the press service of the marketplace said.
Although, according to Price.ru, an online price comparison service, online demand for the purchase of Apple wireless headphones in April and May generally decreased, interest in the budget model of the previous generation Airpods 2 increased by 19%, while the average price reached 9145 rubles, falling by 20%. But interest in AirPods 3, on the contrary, decreased by 42%. The dynamics of demand for AirPods Pro headphones has not changed. In turn, AirPods Max on-ear headphones showed the highest growth rate in the Apple headphone segment – 160% year-on-year. Their average price in online stores is 51,573 rubles (-5% compared to last year).
Mobile Research Group Leading Analyst Eldar Murtazin noted that the growth in demand for wireless headphones is due to their convenience and affordable prices. However, Airpods, according to him, do not currently occupy the maximum market share, if not to talk about the value in money, because due to their price they cover 35-40%. “The market is growing, actively developing, Apple was once really the market leader in unit terms, but they have been losing it for several years in a row, the reason is a large number of fakes for Airpods,” the expert added.
“Wireless headphones start from a very modest amount of money, and therefore, in general, Apple’s share is understandable – their headphones are expensive. Therefore, I don’t think that their position will be shaken in the near future, but small companies, since there are a lot of them in the aggregate, are gaining certain levels that are already catching up with Apple,” says Denis Kuskov, CEO of Telecom Daily.
