Apple Suppliers Reportedly Expect AirPods Shipments to Surge 50% to 90 Million in 2020

airpodsprodesignAirPods shipments could increase by 50 percent in 2020 on a year-over-year basis, according to sources within Apple's supply chain cited by DigiTimes.

A paywalled preview of the report reads as follows:

AirPods shipments to soar 50% in 2020
Shipments of Apple's AirPods are expected to surge 50% on year to 90 million sets in 2020, according to sources at suppliers engaged in the supply chain.

Apple folds AirPods revenue into its "Wearables, Home, and Accessories" category in its quarterly earnings reports, so keep in mind that these are estimated figures. 90 million shipments of AirPods representing 50 percent growth in 2020 would imply 60 million shipments in 2019, in line with an estimate from research firm Strategy Analytics earlier this year. However, as is common with estimates, some analysts have disputed that figure.

Regardless of exact numbers, it is clear that AirPods have been tremendously popular, with the new AirPods Pro facing lengthy shipping estimates on Apple's online store since being released last October. Apple's wearables category set a new all-time revenue record last quarter, which Apple attributed to the success of the Apple Watch and AirPods.

Apple released the higher-end AirPods Pro in October 2019 with several improvements over regular AirPods, including active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and water and sweat resistance, along with a new in-ear design. AirPods Pro are priced at $249 in the United States, while regular AirPods with a wireless charging case are $199.

Last week, it was rumored that a new entry-level version of AirPods Pro will enter production by the second quarter of 2020, but no further details have been shared. It has been speculated that the earphones could end up being third-generation regular AirPods with the same design and sound quality as AirPods Pro, but without active noise cancelation.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, AirPods Pro
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

Alleged iOS 19 Icons Front Page Tech

iOS 19 Leak Reveals Alleged New Design With Rounder App Icons, Floating Tab Bar, and More

Monday April 7, 2025 3:13 pm PDT by
YouTube channel Front Page Tech is back today with another video that provides a closer look at iOS 19's alleged design changes. The video contains re-created renders of iOS 19, which are allegedly based on real footage of the software update, provided by sources within Apple. Overall, iOS 19 is expected to have a more glass-like, visionOS-inspired design, with added translucency for user...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Report Reveals Internal Chaos Behind Apple's Siri Failure

Thursday April 10, 2025 7:15 am PDT by
A new report from The Information today reveals much of the internal turmoil behind Apple Intelligence's revamped version of Siri. Apple apparently weighed up multiple options for the backend of Apple Intelligence. One initial idea was to build both small and large language models, dubbed "Mini Mouse" and "Mighty Mouse," to run locally on iPhones and in the cloud, respectively. Siri's...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

Waiting for the Perfect MacBook Pro? 2026 Might Be the Year

Thursday April 10, 2025 4:19 am PDT by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro's New Rear Camera Bar 'Same Color As Rest of Device'

Monday April 7, 2025 2:09 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a redesigned rear camera panel that spans the width of the device, but it will be the same color as the iPhone itself, rather than being part of a two-tone design. That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, the reporter says the iPhone 17 Pro won't have a two-toned back, as some renders have...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

5 Biggest Changes Rumored for iPhone 17 Pro

Tuesday April 8, 2025 2:38 am PDT by
Later this year, Apple will introduce the iPhone 17 series, which includes the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, two new high-end flagship devices that will be sold alongside the regular iPhone 17 and an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. If you have been holding out for the iPhone 17 Pro or its bigger sibling, here are five of the biggest changes, informed by the latest reports and...
iPhone Assembly

Trump Believes Apple Could Manufacture iPhones in the U.S.

Tuesday April 8, 2025 12:08 pm PDT by
U.S. President Donald Trump "absolutely" believes that Apple could manufacture its iPhones and other devices in the United States, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today during a media briefing. Leavitt was asked whether Trump thought that iPhone manufacturing is the kind of technology that could move to the U.S. "Absolutely, he believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have ...
Apple Northbrook

Apple Store in Chicago Area Permanently Closing Later This Month

Wednesday April 9, 2025 9:56 am PDT by
Apple will be permanently closing its store at the Northbrook Court shopping mall in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook on April 26, the company has announced. Apple has added the following notice to the store's web page:Thank you Northbook. Apple Northbrook is closing on April 26 at 7pm. We're still here for you. Please visit apple.com/retail to find your nearest store.Apple Northbrook opened ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Wednesday April 9, 2025 8:56 am PDT by
Apple employees are testing iOS 18.4.1 for iPhones, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update will likely be released in a week or two, if not sooner. As the version number implies, iOS 18.4.1 will obviously be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. There are no...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

All the Design Changes Rumored for iOS 19 So Far

Tuesday April 8, 2025 2:04 pm PDT by
Apple is going to unveil iOS 19 in just about two months at its June WWDC event, and rumors suggest that it's going to bring a big change to the iPhone's design. It's been described as the most notable design overhaul since iOS 7, so it should be an exciting update. We've rounded up everything we've heard so far about the design changes coming to iOS 19. visionOS-like design with...

Top Rated Comments

MICHAELSD Avatar
66 months ago

Just returned from the Apple store where apple agreed to fully refund my AirPods Pro due to many problems, I purchased them in December 2019.

* Left Earbud was not working regularly just stopped working music / audio would continue in right ear
* Heavy battery drain when on a call (about 1% per min)
* Pods not charging when in case
* Intermittent problem where it was like the phone and AirPods where out of range (when the phone was no more the 6ft from me)
* ANC was intermittent, when it worked it worked okay, but it was like it was adjusting in real time. We have a ceiling fan in our room and at points it was silent no background noise, then suddenly you would hear the fan for about 20 secs then it would go quite again.

AppleCare engineering team spoke to me and they said there fully aware of the problems I was having and I was not the only person who has reported them, then they continued to say, we are working on it but have no time line of a fix, could be a week or a year :confused:.

Anyway I been refunded now so I'll wait and see what happens in the near future, will use my 2nd gen ones for the moment and my Beats Studio 3's.
Why not just try another pair? It doesn’t seem that those are common issues.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dave245 Avatar
66 months ago
They need to sort out the issues with the AirPods Pro first, I have had to send mine back, get a replacement, get a hold put on my debit card and now sit and wait for them to release that hold.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
840quadra Avatar
66 months ago
Been a great product for me. Still rocking my original 1st year AirPods, and love the new pro model for flights, and other situations where I don't want to deal with noise.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
66 months ago
60 million a year already sounds like a crazy-high number. Any headphones vendor can only dream of that…
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarpalMac Avatar
66 months ago
I just wish the sound quality and noise cancelling was better. Compared to my wired QC20's they are quite a long way off the mark and at that price point there simply is no excuse for it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stevejobs>apple Avatar
66 months ago
Love my pros. The noise cancelling alone is worth the extra $50. The fit is more secure for workouts too which I love.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)