Report: Apple leads slowing true wireless stereo market as open-ear earbuds gain ground

A recent report from Omdia highlights Apple's continued dominance in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) market, despite a slight decline in overall shipments. According to the analysis, Apple sold 16.8 million TWS devices in the second quarter of 2026, marking a 1.2% increase compared to the same period in 2025. This modest growth propelled Apple to maintain its lead position, accounting for 20.5% of the total TWS market, nearly double Xiaomi's share of 10.4%.

Samsung secured the third spot with 6.7% shares, followed by Huawei at 6.2% and OPPO at 5.0%. Among the top five vendors, only OPPO saw a growth in shipments, which increased by 14.9% year over year. The report also delves into open-ear earbuds, a subset of TWS devices. Omdia describes open wireless stereo (OWS) devices as those that leave the ear canal open, such as clip-on and ear-hook models.

During Apple's recent event, the company's VP of Hardware Engineering, Dave Pakula, described the new AirPods 5 as having an "open-ear fit" and praised its noise-cancelling capabilities. Despite this, Omdia did not include the non-Pro AirPods in the OWS market category. In terms of OWS shipments, Shokz led the pack with 1.1 million units, representing a 10.3% market share and a 107.9% year-over-year growth.

Sanag followed with a 7.6% share and a 2.4% year-over-year increase, while Huawei came in third with a 7.0% share, despite a decline of 4.1% in shipments. Baseus ranked fourth with 6.6% share and 29.9% growth, and Edifier held the fifth position with a 5.4% share and 0.2% growth. Omdia predicts that OWS shipments will continue to show significant growth, with annual shipments forecasted to rise from 43.9 million units in 2026 to 90.5 million units by 2030.

This represents nearly one in five TWS shipments. For more details on the report, readers can access Omdia's full analysis via the provided link.