NPD Group:

2017 has been a great year for headphones. Through July, U.S. dollar sales and average prices increased 22 percent, and 18 percent, respectively, over the same period a year ago.

And:

Since launching in December, Apple’s AirPods have accounted for 85 percent of totally wireless headphone dollar sales in the U.S., according to NPD’s Retail Tracking Service. With a use case centering on frictionless access to Siri and other tasks initiated by voice, AirPods really act as an extension of the iPhone. Apple’s path to leadership in the category is helped by disruptive pricing, brand resonance, and excitement over the W1 chip, which significantly eases Bluetooth connections to iOS and Mac devices.

85% is an incredibly large slice of the pie. Removing that headphone jack was crazy, right? Crazy like a fox.

UPDATE: Gary Riches questioned the use of the term “totally wireless” in the report. Not sure if NPD’s numbers excluded headphones like the BeatsX Wireless headphones, which are “wireless”, but have a wire connecting left and right ears so are not considered totally wireless. If so, that’s a much smaller set of competitors. Still big market share, but would be good to know the full story.