Apple sold a staggering number of AirPods last year

Research firm Strategy Analytics reports Apple sold almost 60 million AirPods in 2019 according to its estimates, and that the Cupertino-based company absolutely dominates the wireless earphone market. Not only does Apple have roughly half of the segment’s market share but, thanks to the premium price point for its product, it generates over 70 percent of the segment’s revenue.

Not really surprising — The outsized performance isn’t really a surprise to industry watchers. A previous report estimates Apple’s on course to generate $4 billion in revenue from wireless earphones alone this quarter.

The estimate from Strategy Analytics includes both the original AirPods and the AirPods Pro announced in October last year that had people lining up outside Apple Stores with the sort of enthusiasm usually reserved for iPhones. An entire industry has also sprung up around AirPods cases, with some costing more than the buds themselves.

Apple’s stellar performance and its current hiring spree have people wondering if the company is recession-proof. We’ll have to wait for the next recession to find out, but until then, you can bet the company’s going to keep selling its, granted, excellent AirPods as fast as it can make them, especially considering some people are inevitably losing and replacing theirs at a rate of knots.