sandalwood

Key Takeaways

In September, China's keyboard and mouse market diverged and traded up: mouse sales value grew 16% year on year, while keyboards above RMB 800 expanded against the downtrend.

01 Keyboards still adjusting while mice hold volume and grow value

Sandalwood's China e-commerce monitoring shows that in September 2026, China's online keyboard market sold about 2.36 million units, down 15% year on year, for sales value of about RMB 640 million, down 7%. Value fell less than volume — a sign of some trading up in the product mix, though not yet enough to offset the contraction in demand.

Over the same period, the mouse market sold about 5.02 million units, up 1% year on year, for sales value of about RMB 690 million, up 16%. Compared with keyboards, the mouse market held relatively steady in scale, with growth coming mostly from an expanding mid- and high-price range.

02 High-end keyboard demand grows; mouse upgrades concentrate at RMB 200–600

The keyboard market's price structure shows a pattern of “pressure on the mainstream, growth at the high end.”

Products below RMB 400 together made up about 86% of unit sales — still the market's base — but every band in the range slipped. The RMB 0–100 band edged its share up from 27% to 28% while volume fell 12% year on year; RMB 100–200 dropped from 31% to 28% as volume fell 23%; and RMB 200–400 held its share at around 29% while volume declined 14%.

By contrast, the RMB 800-plus band lifted its share from 4% to 6% and grew 23% year on year — the only major price band to post growth.

Mice show the reverse: “a shrinking low end, an expanding middle.” Sub-RMB 200 products saw their combined share fall from 87% to 83%, with RMB 0–100 down 4% year on year and RMB 100–200 roughly flat.

The increment concentrated at RMB 200–600: RMB 200–400 raised its share from 7% to 10%, up 45% year on year, and RMB 400–600 went from 2% to 3%, up 26%. Above RMB 600 also kept growing, though from a limited base.

03 Mouse leading tier steadies as magnetic-switch keyboard competition accelerates

On the brand landscape, the mouse market's leading camp held steady. In September 2026, mouse CR3 held at around 36% while CR5 rose from 45% to 48%. LOGITECH, INPHIC and LENOVO remain firmly at the top, with the rise in concentration driven mainly by brand expansion at HP and MCHOSE — further cementing the leading tier.

Keyboard competition, meanwhile, is playing out mostly around magnetic switches. In September, magnetic-switch keyboards sold about 700,000 units, up 8% year on year, and their share of keyboard volume rose sharply, making them a key niche driving the keyboard market's structural upgrade.

Within the segment, magnetic-switch keyboard CR3 fell from 67% to 63% and CR5 from 80% to 74% — concentration at the top easing as more brands join the field. Even so, MCHOSE still leads the magnetic-switch keyboard market, while ATK, VGN, EWEADN and other brands keep widening their magnetic-switch lineups.

Overall, the mouse market remains dominated by a stable leading tier, while magnetic-switch keyboards are in a phase of accelerating brand competition. The spread of magnetic-switch and Rapid Trigger (RT) products has eroded established brands' edge, opening room to rise for emerging peripheral brands that iterate quickly.