Wireless Charging Sales Jump After iPhone 8 Release; More to Come, NPD Says

Dollar and unit sales of wireless charging mats more than doubled in Q4 vs. the year-ago quarter, attributed in part to Apple including Qi wireless charging in the latest edition of the iPhone, NPD Group reported Monday. NPD analyst Stephen Baker compared wireless charging devices’ sales growth to that of wireless headphones after Apple’s removal of the headphone jack from the iPhone 7. Sales have slowed since Q4, Baker said, but January dollar sales were more than double the dollar sales for January 2017, with wireless charging an 11 percent share of mobile power market revenue. Wireless charging revenue totaled $132 million in the second half of 2017, Baker told us. Since the iPhone 8 launch, average weekly sales for wireless charging were nearly three times higher than in the quarter before the phones launched, with Belkin and mophie among the biggest beneficiaries, Baker said. NPD expects the category to continue having high revenue growth as more companies deliver innovative products such as the “highly anticipated” wireless charging pad from Apple. Despite rumors that the Apple AirPower charging pad -- capable of charging an iPhone, Watch and AirPods simultaneously -- would ship in Q1, the product hasn't hit stores. Apple didn’t comment Monday.