AirPods Max Market Segment Too Niche to Boost Sales, Say Apple Suppliers
Apple's suppliers don't expect AirPods Max to boost their sales anything like AirPods earbuds because they believe the over-ear headphones market segment is too niche, according to a new report out today.
Taiwan-based Compeq and Unitech have been shipping rigid-flex boards for AirPods and are said to be supplying the printed circuit boards for AirPods Max too, according to DigiTimes.
However, industry sources said the PCB suppliers don't foresee a significant boost to their sales from AirPods Max, "reasoning that over-ear headphones are positioned as a niche segment with higher prices but smaller market scale compared to earbuds."
The sources cited Canalys statistics showing that the world's quarterly shipments of true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds came to around 45 million pairs in third-quarter 2019, compared to 20 million for over-ear headphones.
The report notes that JBL, Sony and Bose are "firmly in the leader group" in terms of market share for over-ear headphones. It's worth adding that all three offer headphones at a significantly lower price point than Apple is targeting with AirPods Max, which cost $549.
Indeed, the price has raised eyebrows and led some commentators to question Apple's market strategy for the headphones. Nevertheless, AirPods Max quickly sold out when they were unveiled on Tuesday, and are now backordered until March in all colors.
Popular Stories
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model.
The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
