Brand teams # Earbuds are flat, noise-cancelling is not: reading a mature category from the shelf Shipments of wireless earbuds in India barely grew last year, while models with noise cancelling grew fast, by research firms' counts. In a flat category a brand gains by taking share, so the useful readings are which features lead the listings, how prices and discounts move, and where your models rank in search. ![](https://rewalto.com/_next/image?url=%2Fbrand%2Fog%2Fblog-earbuds-flat-noise-cancelling-growing.png&w=3840&q=75) Illustration ยท Illustrative editorial cover, not observed data. In this post 1. [Key takeaways](#takeaways) 2. [What do the research firms say about earbuds in India?](#what-the-figures-say) 3. [What does a flat category mean for a brand?](#what-flat-means) 4. [What can a shipment count not show?](#what-the-figures-miss) 5. [What should an audio brand read on the shelf?](#what-to-read) 6. [What can shelf readings not tell an audio brand?](#limits) 7. [Quick answers](#questions) 8. [Sources](#sources) [Explore commerce data](https://rewalto.com/data/commerce) By [Varun Mahajan](https://rewalto.com/about), FounderPublished 22 October 2026Part of the [brand playbooks](https://rewalto.com/use-cases/brands) guideMore on [data and APIs](https://rewalto.com/insights/category/digital-shelf)4 min read ## Key takeaways - Counterpoint says India's wireless earbud shipments grew 1 per cent in 2025, while noise-cancelling models grew 24 per cent. - IDC counts flat earbud volumes in 2025 and a 1.1 per cent fall in the average selling price of earwear. - In a flat category a brand grows by taking share, and share is contested in search results, prices and discounts. - Shipment counts do not show how listings are presented. Read search position, price against MRP and availability over time. This post is the timely take. The evergreen how-to is the guide [Marketplace product data: read listings without overclaiming](https://rewalto.com/guides/marketplace-product-data), which covers the topic in full. ## What do the research firms say about earbuds in India? That the category barely grew over the year while one feature inside it grew fast. [Counterpoint Research said on 2 March 2026](https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/India-TWS-Market-Remains-Flat-in-2025) that India's shipments of truly wireless earbuds grew 1 per cent in 2025, while Counterpoint counted 24 per cent growth for devices with active noise cancellation and 67 per cent for those with spatial audio. [IDC's count, published the same day](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/india-wearables-market-fy2025/), points the same way. IDC says earwear shipments rose 1.4 per cent to 84.7 million units in 2025, with wireless earbuds holding 70.2 per cent of them on flat volumes, and IDC puts the average selling price of earwear down 1.1 per cent to US$17.5. A year earlier the picture was different: [IDC reported on 14 February 2025](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/idc-indias-wearable-device-market-declined-yoy-for-the-first-time-falling-by-11-3-in-2024/) that wireless earbud shipments grew 9.4 per cent in 2024. ## What does a flat category mean for a brand? When the pool of buyers stops growing, a brand grows by winning buyers from another brand or by moving them to a dearer model. Counterpoint puts the slowdown down to a shrinking pool of first-time buyers. Both kinds of gain are won on the shelf: in the listing a shopper compares, the price beside it, and the order in which search shows the options. ## What can a shipment count not show? A shipment count is units sent into the channel, counted for the whole country over a whole year. It does not show which features the listings lead with, how often a model is discounted, or whether a rival's noise-cancelling model sits above yours when a shopper searches. A rising feature share in the research is a reason to look at those things. The answer is on the listings themselves. ## What should an audio brand read on the shelf? On marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart a listing is national rather than tied to a pin code, so the readings are a series over time. The guide to [marketplace product data](https://rewalto.com/guides/marketplace-product-data) covers how to read them without over-claiming. - Search position for feature words such as noise cancelling earbuds, beside broad words such as wireless earbuds, to see whether your models appear where shoppers who want the feature look. - Selling price against MRP over weeks, for your models and the rivals beside them, to tell a sale event from a lasting price cut. - Rating and review counts as the listing shows them, read as what a shopper sees before buying. - Availability of each model and colour on the same schedule, so a stock gap is not mistaken for a loss of interest. ## What can shelf readings not tell an audio brand? Sales, returns and market share. A reading shows a listing as it was displayed at one time, with the page address behind it. Use the research firms for the size of the market and the shelf for how your models are presented within it. Rewalto records price, MRP, search position, ratings shown and availability for the listings you choose, with the retailer's page address behind each reading. ## Quick answers ### Is the Indian earbuds market shrinking? By shipments it is flat rather than shrinking: Counterpoint counts 1 per cent growth in 2025 and IDC counts flat earbud volumes for the same year. Both measure units shipped into the channel, not what consumers bought. ### Why does noise cancelling grow when the category is flat? Counterpoint describes 2025 as an upgrade cycle led by features such as noise cancelling and spatial audio. Its figures show growth by feature, but they do not say which listings shoppers chose or at what price. ### What should an audio brand track on Amazon and Flipkart? Search position for feature words, selling price against MRP over weeks, the rating and review counts a shopper sees, and the availability of each model and colour. A marketplace listing is national, so read these as a series over time. ## Sources 1. [Counterpoint Research: India TWS market remains flat in 2025](https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/India-TWS-Market-Remains-Flat-in-2025), published 2 March 2026. Earbud shipment growth in 2025, and growth of models with noise cancelling and spatial audio. Shipments, not consumer sales. 2. [IDC: India's wearables market declines 4.0% to 114 million units in 2025](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/india-wearables-market-fy2025/), published 2 March 2026. Earwear shipments, the earbud share and flat earbud volumes, and earwear average selling price in 2025. 3. [IDC: India's wearable device market declined for the first time, falling 11.3% in 2024](https://www.idc.com/resource-center/press-releases/idc-indias-wearable-device-market-declined-yoy-for-the-first-time-falling-by-11-3-in-2024/), published 14 February 2025. Earbud shipment growth in 2024, for comparison with 2025. ## What to do next Review the current data catalogue and documentation before choosing what to use. Older research articles do not establish current product availability. [Explore Rewalto](https://rewalto.com/)[Brand playbooks for quick commerce](https://rewalto.com/use-cases/brands)[Current data catalogue](https://rewalto.com/data)[Check coverage and freshness](https://rewalto.com/guides/check-dataset-coverage-and-freshness) ## Keep reading [The full guide ### Marketplace product data: read listings without overclaiming How to work with marketplace listings while keeping sales and demand claims separate. Explore](https://rewalto.com/guides/marketplace-product-data) [Guide ### Digital share of shelf: a definition you can defend How to define and measure the share of results your brand fills, and where the figure misleads. Explore](https://rewalto.com/guides/digital-share-of-shelf) [Guide ### Discount depth: reading the gap between selling price and MRP How to calculate discount depth and read it without over-claiming. Explore](https://rewalto.com/guides/discount-depth) [From the blog ### Why the price you see on Blinkit is not the price: MRP, pack and pin code What a price on a quick-commerce app really shows, why the same product shows different prices, and how to avoid a false gap before you raise one with a buyer. Explore](https://rewalto.com/blog/why-a-blinkit-price-is-not-the-price) --- Canonical page: https://rewalto.com/blog/earbuds-flat-noise-cancelling-growing Last content change: 2026-10-22