Apple is cutting production of its ultra-popular AirPods by around 25% to 30% due to a decrease in sales as a result of increased competition in the wireless earphone industry, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia.
According to the report, citing sources familiar with Apple's production plans, the tech giant now plans to produce only roughly 75 to 85 million units of AirPods for the remainder of this year. It had initially planned to aim for 110 million units.
Apple now expects to make between 75 million and 85 million units for 2021, compared with a previous production forecast of 110 million units.
"The most significant order reduction is for the second quarter toward the start of the third quarter," said one of the people familiar with the matter. "The levels of inventory [in warehouses] and in-store stocks of AirPods are currently high ... and demand is not as strong as expected."
The report does not specify which AirPods specifically will see a production cut. Apple's current AirPods lineup includes the AirPods Pro, the second-generation standard AirPods with wireless charging, and the $550 over-ear AirPods Max. AirPods and AirPods Pro are expected to be upgraded this year, which Apple hopes will "stimulate sales," according to the report.
Towards the end of 2020, Apple updated its entire product lineup, ranging from new iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and more. The AirPods, which have dominated the wireless earphone market since their debut, was one of the only Apple products not to receive an upgrade towards the end of the year.
Apple is rumored to be working on third-generation AirPods with a design similar to the AirPods Pro but lacks "Pro" features such as Active Noise Cancelation. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that production of the new AirPods will begin in the third quarter of the year.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker.
In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
Friday February 14, 2025 6:03 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the HomePod mini in November 2020, followed by the AirTag in May 2021, and both still remain first-generation products.
Fortunately, rumors suggest that both the HomePod mini and the AirTag will finally be updated at some point this year.
Below, we recap rumors about the HomePod mini 2 and AirTag 2.
HomePod mini 2
In January 2025, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple is ...
If next generation AirPods are expected in Q3, and reductions are happening between Q2 and Q3, couldn’t this possibly mean that the reductions are planned around the new model being released?
The info shared wouldn’t factor in production data on an unreleased product.
Diminishing returns when you get over £100. I mean the tech when you’re in the iOS environment is cool, but if I didn’t buy them right at the beginning when less options were available, then I probably may have opted for another brand.
I’ve seen some Anker Wireless buds that have over 20,000 reviews on Amazon and are 4.5/5 and are £40.
Also during the lockdown it didn’t make sense to have earbuds that only last less than 5 hours when you have work calls and stuff. I had my Bose NC700 and Jabra Evolve 85 on a lot more due to longer battery life, comfort and the ability to be connected to more than one device across different OS
SHOCKING: if you don’t update a product for 2 years (okay okay, 1.5 years), after so many people have already bought the product, the sales will go down.
The AirPods Pro is so good that I don’t know what I want for the next version - given that Apple replaced my APP for free twice (one within the warranty period; another time under the replacement program), so now I have relatively new batteries inside the APP too.
I would like to upgrade from my AirPod Pros... they have horrible battery life and tons of glitches like crackling!
AirPods in generally do not seem to be made to last, but I have bad luck with Apple headphones in general. Even before, the wired ones would die on me within a year (usually the left piece for some reason would stop working).
I had to get my AirPod replaced once (also the left one started to fail) and even with the replacement they last about 30 minutes now. My AirPod Pro also had to be replaced before because of the cracking issue. Lesson learned, if I ever do get AirPods again (they ARE convenient) I will add AppleCare+ to them for sure
