“Apple’s AirPods have made a sizable impact on the wireless headphone market, according to research from Slice Intelligence, with the audio accessory reportedly capturing more than a quarter of the market,” Malcolm Owen reports for AppleInsider.
“For the United States alone, the report estimates wireless headphones made up 75 percent of online revenue in the entire headphone market in December, up from approximately 50 percent for the same month last year,” Owen reports. “Slice suggests that there was a drastic change in terms of market share last month, triggered by the launch of the AirPods. Before the launch on December 13, Beats occupied 24.1 percent of online revenue for wireless headphone sales, according to the report, with Bose following behind with 10.5 percent, then Plantronics and Jaybird with 7.8 percent and 7.45 percent respectively.”
“For the period after the launch, Apple suddenly became the dominant wireless headphones brand, moving from having no share at all to occupying 26 percent of the market,” Owen reports. “The report also claims the launch day of EarPods turned December 13 into the largest single day for online headphone sales for all of 2016.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Imagine if they’s managed to ship ’em on time?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Also, imagine if they had volume control. And imagine if Siri control didn’t suck so hard. There’s a huge lag for me and I have to tap too hard to activate. I like the sound. I like the design of the pods and case. I like the connectivity to the computer and iOS. But connectivity and lack of Siri commands on Apple TV is disappointing. And the battery bleed on the case is odd. I don’t understand why the battery goes down so fast when the pods aren’t being used and the case is closed.
Troll!
I don’t think Bbock is trolling at all. I bought AirPods launch day, and have been using them for weeks. They are hands down the best wireless headphones I’ve ever used.
However, a lot of points bbrock touches upon are true.
-no volume control. I have Apple Watch, so that solves it for me. But when I don’t wear the watch (which isn’t often) the lack of volume control is a little perplexing. It’s just something you’d expect would be built in.
-the case definitely had a battery drain. I see the state of charge drop about 20% daily even if the AirPods are fully charged.
-I don’t find summoning Siri problematic, I think bbock needs to refine his/her tapping method. However we can all agree Siri is beginning to look a little like AppleTV at this point, an Apple Hobby. Spend some time with some of the other digital assistants (OK Google, Alexa, even Cortana to an extent), and you’ll wonder why Apple didn’t doing more on this front. I mean when Microsoft has something that’s about as good, that makes Apple look really bad!
It sounds like concern trolling to me. If you’re having a battery drain issue with the case then it’s a defect and you should return the device within the 1-year Applecare timeframe. Beyond the Apple Watch volume control is as easy as the volume buttons on your iPhone, no need to unlock it. Siri works fine for me too. I don’t know what else people expect, clunky buttons on the AirPods? That’d look horrid. Some type of super precise touch/slide control? Maybe in the future, but come on, this is an all-new, first-gen product that works very well.
The fact that you think Siri works well for you, and using your iPhone as a large volume controller for wireless buds works for you, is great for you.
But Siri has fallen far behind other voice assistance. People have been wondering why Apple has done so little to improve it ever since it came out several years ago. You may be unaware of the lead other assistance have, but its real.
And the whole point of wireless (for most people) is not needing to keep your phone in hand. Having to use another device for volume controls defeats this purpose.
The argument that something works for you so it is somehow a good design does not hold water. That is exactly the argument bad engineers use.
If many people experience Alexa as better than Siri and don’t want to use other devices to control wireless bud volume, those are LEGITIMATE complaints.
Am I missing something? For all the negatives about Siri, you can double-tap the AirPods and say “Set volume at 50%” or whatever level you want. Finding the right terminology so Siri will understand you can be frustrating but once it does understand, it works. I would want volume controls on my AirPods. I want Siri fixed so it understands and is consistent. But definitely, all AirPods users should be telling Siri the volume level to set.
Correction. I would NOT want physical volume controls on my AirPods.
Do you own AirPods? Because it sounds like you’re just running your mouth about a product you haven’t used. If we’re tallking about volume control, Siri works fine.
Why not just adjust the volume on device? I’m not having any trouble with that at all. With AirPods in I reach into my pocket and squeeze the volume rocker in the direction I want the volume to go…
I have all the voice assistants in my home. Siri, Alexa, Google and Cortana.
I actually like Cortana (maybe because she was just so voluptuous in Halo) but she’s lazy. Siri will actually do stuff. Cortana won’t. For example, fire up your windows 10 machine and tell Cortana to mute the volume of the PC or open excel or even set a timer. She’s stumped, but if you want to know the weather or do a bing search she’s your girl.
Alexa and Google are just more verbose, but that doesn’t make them better IMHO. They will give you narrative related to your question where Siri offers the info up on your screen.
Siri is a serious business and it’s so good. Whether you’re a casual user (“What time is it” or “set a timer”) or you’re wired into HomeKit and embrace it like me (“turn on the wax warmer” or “Turn on the sprinklers” or “set all lights low”) she’s ON IT.
Siri really does suck. The AirPods shine a light on that. I can issue a volume command and it says it can’t change the volume. Follow that up with a word for word reiteration of the command and she does it with no problems. Aside from that, compared to Alexa and Google Home (personal experience with Alexa), the annunciation and tone of Siri ensures that I know I’m talking to a computer. Alexa feels like a friend.
The volume control is on your Apple watch which controls volume, pause, forward and back of stuff you have on
your iPhone and Apple watch. The iPad is not yet
supported. But,since all you have on the Pad can be put
on the Phone, no problem albeit with a smaller screen.
No sweat connecting to Apple TV. Use the Setting app.
I plug in my AirPod case every evening overnight so am
not aware of battery drain.
Half the article is wrong – the last half says EarPods
“Imagine if they’s managed to ship ’em on time?Imagine if they’s managed to ship ’em on time?”
You’ve said that over and over. What’s done is done. Key is how well they sell here on in.
MDN is Trumpdrunk
“What is done is done?” Lol.
How uterlly uninformed you are!
AirPod shipping times are still long. And, this is not an isolated event, it is becoming a habit with Apple. MacBook Pro shipping times are also still long. Many iPhone 7 shipping times were extremely long.
So basically, everything Apple updated this Fall took weeks to ship for many customers, and many are STILL are taking weeks to ship.
Not to mention delays in the start of all shipments in the case of AirPods.
This was the area Tim Cook used to run like clockwork (with few exceptions) so while he doesn’t deserve to be held up against Steve Jobs, he certainly deserves to be criticized for failing at his main area of expertise: Supply management.
I just checked availability and shipping is still 6 weeks out for online orders. Store availability in the LA area is not until March 2nd. That is a horrible backlog for an accessory.
Don’t take the 6 week wait seriously. I ordered 2 sets of
AirPods on Dec. 14 and told 6wks. wait with delivery at
end of January. Got one set on Jan.5 and the other on
Jan.6 ! Worth the wait. They are very light and don’t
fall out. One set up on iPhone bluetooth as Paul’s
AirPods and the other as Paul’s AirPods 2. Use one
set and then the other. Never have to wait to recharge.
Apple ship dates are always further out than what they actually end up being. I bet an order placed now will come in within a month and stores will have them available sooner. You can buy them on eBay now if you don’t mind a $50 markup. I bought mine at a 3rd party reseller here in Poland 3 weeks ago for about $200.
I’d be in more of a hurry to buy them if they could also pair to an AppleTV so one could watch without waking someone else.