AirPods Statistics: $22 Billion a Year From Tiny Earbuds

AirPods in dollars and units

1. 110 million AirPods shipped in a single year

That is roughly how many AirPods Apple moved in 2024, making the little earbud one of the best selling gadgets on the planet.¹

2. About $22 billion in annual revenue

Bloomberg analysts estimate AirPods generated around $22 billion in 2024, up about 22 percent year over year.²

3. Roughly $18 billion the year before

AirPods revenue came in near $18 billion in 2023, so the trajectory is still pointing firmly up.³

4. $39.85 billion in Apple's Wearables segment

Apple's "Wearables, Home and Accessories" segment, which includes AirPods, Apple Watch, and HomePod, brought in $39.85 billion in fiscal 2024. The music sibling in the same company, Apple Music, is estimated at roughly $10 billion in annual revenue.⁴

5. About 5 to 7 percent of all Apple revenue

AirPods alone account for a meaningful slice of Apple's $391 billion annual revenue, putting one product category ahead of many entire public companies.⁵

6. Around 550 million units sold since 2016

Cumulative shipments since launch are estimated at more than half a billion pairs of AirPods.⁶

Dominating the wireless earbuds market

7. 76.5 million units and 23 percent share

Apple was the runaway leader in true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds in 2024, shipping 76.5 million units for a 23.1 percent global share.⁷

8. Samsung trails far behind

Second place Samsung shipped 28.2 million units with an 8.5 percent share, only about a third of Apple's volume.⁸

9. 331 million TWS units sold worldwide

The overall TWS market grew 12.6 percent in 2024 to reach 331.6 million units shipped.⁹

10. 455 million smart audio devices shipped

Including headphones and other wireless audio devices, global smart personal audio shipments hit 455 million units in 2024, up 11.2 percent.¹⁰

11. A roughly $57 billion global market

The worldwide true wireless earbuds market was valued at about $57 billion in 2024 according to industry research.¹¹

Bigger than entire US companies

12. A Fortune 500 company on its own

If AirPods were a separate US business, its revenue would slot in around No. 170 on the Fortune 500, well above the roughly $7 billion cutoff to even make the list.¹²

13. More revenue than Spotify, Nintendo, or eBay

AirPods alone bring in more revenue each year than Spotify, Nintendo, or eBay do as standalone companies.¹³

14. In the same league as Marriott International

A US comparison helps put the scale in context. Marriott International, the largest US hotel company with more than 8,000 properties worldwide, reported about $25 billion in revenue for 2024. AirPods, with roughly $22 billion in revenue, are nearly the size of an entire global hotel chain, all from a product that fits in your ear.¹⁴

15. Cumulative revenue heading past $100 billion

Counterpoint Research projects that total AirPods revenue since 2016 will cross the $100 billion mark sometime in 2026.¹⁵

From earbud to hearing aid

16. Launched in December 2016

The first generation of AirPods went on sale on December 13, 2016, after a brief delay following their September unveiling.¹⁶

17. First FDA-cleared over-the-counter hearing aid software

In September 2024 the US Food and Drug Administration authorized software that turns AirPods Pro 2 into a hearing aid, the first OTC hearing aid software ever cleared.¹⁷

18. AirPods 4 and a hearing health push

At the same launch event Apple introduced AirPods 4 and a new hearing health experience built on Hearing Test, Hearing Protection, and the Hearing Aid feature.¹⁸

19. Built for mild to moderate hearing loss

The hearing aid software is intended for adults 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, an estimated 30 million Americans.¹⁹

20. About 1 in 4 US iPhone owners has AirPods

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) estimates that roughly 26 percent of US iPhone owners now own AirPods, with growth starting to plateau.²⁰