Apple reportedly maintained its lead in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) market and saw modest year-over-year growth, even as overall shipments declined. Here are the details.
Open wireless stereo shipments counter true wireless stereo slowdown
According to a new report from Omdia (via MacMagazine), Apple shipped 16.8 million TWS devices during the second quarter of 2026, a 1.2% increase from the same period in 2025.
Despite the modest growth, Apple still outperformed the broader market, which declined 0.7% year over year.
Apple’s shipments amounted to 20.5% of the total TWS market for the period, nearly doubling Xiaomi’s 10.4% share in second place. Samsung came in third at 6.7%, followed by Huawei at 6.2%, and OPPO at 5.0%.
Other than Apple, OPPO was the only top-five vendor to see shipment growth. The figure, which includes devices from OnePlus, rose 14.9% year over year.
Interestingly, Omdia also reported worldwide shipments of open wireless stereo (OWS) devices, a subset of TWS devices.
Essentially, Omdia separates conventional TWS products, including in-ear and semi-in-ear earbuds, from OWS devices such as clip-on and ear-hook models that leave the ear canal open.
Omdia says the OWS market saw shipments grow 12% for the period, with Shokz taking the lead at 1.1 million units shipped, representing a 10.3% market share and 107.9% year-over-year growth.
During its “Surprise and Shine” event earlier this month, Apple’s VP of Hardware Engineering, Dave Pakula, referred to the new AirPods 5 as the company’s “beloved open-ear fit,” adding moments later that “AirPods 5 deliver the industry’s best ANC in an open-ear design.” Still, it appears Omdia did not consider the non-Pro AirPods part of the OWS market.
Back to Omdia’s worldwide OWS shipments ranking, Sanag followed Shokz with a 7.6% share and 2.4% year-over-year growth, while Huawei came in third with a 7.0% share despite shipments declining 4.1%. Baseus ranked fourth with 6.6% share and 29.9% growth, followed by Edifier at 5.4% share and 0.2% growth.
Commenting on the results, Omdia said:
Omdia expects OWS to remain one of the most promising growth areas within TWS over the coming years. Annual OWS shipments are forecast to increase from 43.9 million units in 2026 to 90.5 million units by 2030, representing nearly one in five TWS shipments.
To read Omdia’s full report, follow this link.
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