Cherry's Exit, Rise of Domestic Brands, and AI's Entry: The Peripheral Market Undergoes a Major Shake-up in 2025

If you had to describe the peripheral market in 2025 in one sentence, what comes to mind for Xiaolei is: The old king abdicates, the new king arrives, and AI enters the game.

Although the peripheral market is not large compared to the entire PC market, it is an indispensable part of the PC ecosystem and is also more likely to help brands build user recognition. Therefore, many PC brands have increased their investment in the peripheral market this year, hoping to create a product ecosystem centered around their brand IP.

In addition, many domestic professional peripheral brands have also started to transform. They are no longer satisfied with winning with low prices and have begun to enter the high - end market, attracting the attention of peripheral enthusiasts with their unique design concepts and product features. In contrast to the professional keyboard market, the mouse market is quite different. Domestic brands have directly driven the average price of professional - grade gaming mice from hundreds of yuan to dozens of yuan, which is quite astonishing.

Next, let's take a look back at what memorable events took place in the peripheral market in 2025.

Cherry's market value evaporates by 98%, and the old king is on the verge of decline

The biggest news in the peripheral market in 2025 should be that Cherry, the once - king of mechanical keyboards, is on the verge of bankruptcy. If you don't know Cherry, you may be a player who has only entered or started paying attention to peripherals in the past two years. Four or five years ago, Cherry was still the "faith" of many keyboard enthusiasts.

This company, founded in the United States in 1953 and later moved its headquarters to Germany, has grown alongside modern industry. In fact, in its early days, it was not a "keyboard manufacturer" but a provider of physical switches for manufacturing enterprises, and was well - known globally for its high reliability.

With the emergence of computers, people urgently needed reliable input devices for interaction. In 1973, Cherry launched its first keyboard switch, and then in 1983, it released the famous MX switch, which is the mechanical keyboard switch. This switch design has even been used to this day.

Image source: DES

Therefore, it's not an overstatement to say that Cherry is the pioneer of mechanical keyboards. However, its past glory has faded like a passing cloud, leaving only a desolate scene. According to online information, the retail price of Cherry's mechanical switches once exceeded $1.1 per piece, and the bulk purchase price for keyboard factories remained above $0.5 per piece for a long time. In many periods, the production capacity could hardly meet the demand of manufacturers.

With the rise of domestic mechanical switch manufacturers, Cherry quickly felt the business pressure. Domestic manufacturers such as Kaihua and Gateron entered the market and directly drove the price of mechanical switches below $0.3 per piece. After holding on for a while, Cherry also had to follow the trend and reduce the price to $0.35 - $0.45 per piece.

It can be said that Cherry's decline started with this price war. Later, in order to compete with domestic switches, it once lowered the supply price to $0.2 per piece, which was far lower than its production cost in Germany. Finally, Cherry decided to dismantle its production line in Germany and only keep the production lines in China and Slovakia.

Cherry did try hard to maintain its market share. However, compared with domestic manufacturers, it lacked sufficient R & D investment and strong market drive. At the same time, it sacrificed its original "reliability" to reduce costs (the subsequent switches of Cherry were much inferior in terms of materials). In the end, it failed to make a breakthrough in the mid - and low - end markets and gradually lost ground in the high - end market.

The latest data shows that Cherry's market value has declined by 98% compared with its peak in 2021, dropping from about 771 million euros to only about 14 million euros. To save the company, they appointed an interim CEO in December and plan to sell some non - core businesses to raise cash flow. The business focus will also shift to digital healthcare. From the current situation, this once globally renowned mechanical switch company may soon become a thing of the past.

Looking back at Cherry's decline, the key lies in its lack of innovation in products. Although early domestic switches were criticized for their quality problems, they could be iteratively upgraded on a monthly basis. Switch manufacturers can customize different actuation strokes, forces, and materials according to the needs of keyboard brands, and then quickly iterate based on user feedback and popular switches.

Image source: Peripheral World

Relying on this positive cycle, domestic manufacturers have occupied most of the market in just a few years and even won over a large number of overseas users. Even the most loyal Cherry keyboard enthusiasts have to admit that domestic switches have their merits.

In addition, since 2024, magnetic switches (which trigger keys through magnetic changes and can customize actuation strokes and other parameters according to needs, making them more suitable for gamers) have gradually become the new mainstay in the mid - and high - end e - sports market. Domestic manufacturers have quickly followed up and even started to innovate, gaining a stronger voice in the high - end magnetic switch market.

What about Cherry? They skipped magnetic switches and chose another route - inductive switches. This route is not original either. Before Cherry, Rapoo had already launched the world's first keyboard with inductive switches. Cherry's first authorized and cooperative product was officially launched nearly four months later. As inductive switches are accepted by players, more and more manufacturers are joining this market, and Cherry still has to face fierce competition.

At present, it is highly likely that Cherry will officially announce the sale of its peripheral business department at the end of this year or early next year. As for which company will take over, it is still unknown. It is not ruled out that, like iRobot, its OEM partner in China will take over. After all, Cherry still has a high level of recognition in the global PC peripheral market, and the products designed by the Chinese team later have received good feedback from users.

Anyway, we are about to witness another once - industry leader selling its core business due to the impact of Chinese brands.

Domestic keyboards move towards the high - end, and "low price" is no longer the only selling point

When it comes to domestic keyboards, many people's first reaction may be "cheap". Early domestic keyboards did open up the market with low prices. However, as domestic keyboards gradually occupy the main share of the market, more and more brands are launching high - end keyboards, squeezing into the market originally occupied by international giants.

For example, the well - known peripheral brand Dareu has successively launched high - end models such as Cupid65 and Thunder 68 this year. The former uses an all - aluminum alloy shell + titanium metal decorative sheet and is equipped with customized large - bead mechanical switches. In terms of structure, it uses a leaf - spring Gasket, focusing on the consistency of feel and sound. The latter, on the basis of a transparent keycap + all - aluminum alloy body, also uses a new generation of self - developed wireless solution and inductive switches.

Image source: Dareu

In addition, established domestic peripheral manufacturers such as Rapoo have basically launched separate geek sub - brands, indicating their determination to enter the high - end market. Of course, whether the brand's determination is effective depends on user recognition. So, how do users view the high - end development of domestic keyboards?

Judging from the feedback on online communities, domestic peripheral brands still need to focus on "cost - performance" to gain user support. In short, Chinese players have the ability and willingness to buy high - end keyboards priced over a thousand yuan, but only if the products "are worth the price". The situation where overseas brands can sell products for two or three thousand yuan just by relying on brand premium has not occurred yet (and may never occur).

In addition, some manufacturers have also begun to explore special keyboard materials. For example, manufacturers such as Dareu have tried to use special materials such as ceramics and wood for keycaps and even keyboard shells. This not only makes the keyboards more recognizable but is also unexpectedly popular in the overseas market. However, at present, these special keyboards are mainly for show and do not have any special practical experience.

Image source: Taobao

Under the pressure of domestic peripheral manufacturers, mainstream brands such as Logitech have also been forced to make changes. For example, they have established R & D centers mainly composed of Chinese teams and launched many new "high - quality and low - cost" products, which have received a lot of praise from overseas users. They said that Logitech's recent product strength has been significantly improved.

On the one hand, domestic brands are actively moving towards the high - end, and on the other hand, international big brands are being forced to move towards the low - end. The keyboard market in 2025 is undoubtedly undergoing a major reshuffle.

The mouse market is in a fierce competition, and AI becomes a new selling point

The keyboard market has been "tamed" by domestic manufacturers, and the mouse market is the next target. Throughout 2025, the professional gaming mouse market has shown a state of "overall over - performance, and details determine success or failure". The flagship sensors that were only seen on high - end mice in the past are now ubiquitous in products priced at two or three hundred yuan, or even one or two hundred yuan. In the extremely competitive environment, even mice priced at dozens of yuan are equipped with high - grade sensors and ergonomic designs.

When sensors are no longer the core selling point, the comprehensive experience becomes the key to attracting users. Last year, many domestic mouse brands were involved in "plagiarism" disputes (imitating the classic products of international giants). This year, Xiaolei found that many brands have started to use extreme segmentation design based on user feedback and online community discussions to meet the needs of different users.

Take Rapoo as an example. This year, their VT series of gaming mice have launched more than five new products, covering different hand shapes, different dominant hands, and different types of gamers. Each model also has different configuration versions. On the premise of similar basic configurations, they mainly differentiate themselves by parameters such as battery life and wireless transmission code rate, with prices ranging from 100 to 400 yuan, directly covering the mainstream price range of gaming mice.

Image source: JD.com

There are many brands adopting a similar product strategy to Rapoo, so the new product launch rhythm of the entire market has been compressed to a monthly basis. In contrast, the product iteration time of brands such as Logitech and Razer is often one to two years, and some of their main products are even sold for four or five years before being updated.

However, with the entry of domestic brands, the product update speed of these brands has also obviously accelerated. For example, Logitech released the first - generation GPX in 2020, and the next - generation product was not released until 2023. After the large - scale entry of domestic mouse brands, Logitech has launched five iterative products of GPX and GPW in just two years, and rarely launched two models targeting specific user groups: 2c (for users with small hands) and 2SE (for students and other groups).

Although Razer is not as aggressive as Logitech, its product update frequency has also significantly increased this year. Moreover, different from Cherry, Razer and Logitech still have significant advantages in their unique technologies. Coupled with their advantages in molds, they still have a large number of fans among players.

It has to be said that there are significant differences between the two professional peripheral giants, Logitech and Razer, and Cherry. Whether in terms of R & D strength or product channels, they are different from suppliers like Cherry, which mainly supply parts. Both brands have established separate R & D teams in China, which enables them to withstand the pressure in the current market competition and even maintain their share in the mid - and high - end markets.

While the professional market is in a chaotic state, the office mouse market is also undergoing a new round of changes. With the popularization of large AI models, many brands have launched AI mice, aiming to occupy the "AI entry point at users' fingertips". For example, well - known companies such as iFlytek and Lenovo, as well as Mishu Technology, which focuses on the AI mouse market, the latter has also gained a significant market share in this unique field.

However, simply writing 'AI' on the packaging and attaching a client for calling the model is essentially the same as users installing an AI tool by themselves. Therefore, to truly make a difference, it's not enough to just add an "AI key". It depends on whether AI can be integrated into users' daily work. In this regard, iFlytek has actually done a good job.

They recently released the latest generation of AM50 Ultra. Different from common AI mice, the AM50 Ultra is designed more like a professional gaming mouse. Whether it's the hollowed - out magnesium alloy shell or the Omron micro - switch + 4K StarFlash wireless technology, it makes it not just an "office mouse" but more like a mouse that users are willing to use at any time.

Image source: iFlytek

In terms of AI functions, the AM50 Ultra still maintains high - precision voice input recognition on the device side, supports 23 Chinese dialects and 66 foreign languages for input, and also provides real - time voice transcription and translation, as well as functions such as subtitle projection and intelligent screenshot (after screenshotting a document or table, it can directly output a table file). It can be said that these functions are quite practical.

In Xiaolei's view, AI peripherals will inevitably gradually enter the mainstream market in the future. As for who will stand out, it's still unknown. Even leading manufacturers like iFlytek are constantly exploring and launching different types of products to test the market's reaction.

However, Xiaolei believes that hardware is secondary. The key to the success of AI peripherals lies in software. Whoever can deeply integrate AI capabilities with