Neil Hughes
Declaring AirPods "the most important accessory in Apple's wireless ecosystem," analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he believes the company could ship between 26 million and 28 million units of the completely wireless headphones next year.
Those sales, according to the KGI Securities analyst, would represent 100 percent year over year growth. The predictions were made in a note issued to investors on Monday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider.
AirPods shipped in late 2016, but Apple has struggled to keep up with demand for much of their availability. That has changed in recent months, with an improved assembly process and increased capacity from adding a second manufacturer.
While Inventec used to be the sole supplier of AirPods, Luxshare-ICT has reportedly joined the mix recently. As a result, he sees Luxshare-ICT potentially edging its way into Apple's HomePod supply chain as well.
The $159 AirPods include Apple's custom W1 wireless chip, which allows easy pairing across a range of devices signed into the same iCloud account. The accessory is expected to soon be enhanced by a wireless charging case that will be compatible with Apple's AirPower charging mat.
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Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
53 Comments
Yet another obvious disconnect between what is said in comment sections about Apple products and what real users want and do in the real world. AirPods continue be maligned and denigrated by denizens of tech forums like AI, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and others. But in the real world they are a hit. I watched this week’s Mac Break Weekly and it contained a segment about the MacBook Pro. After Leo La Porte, Andy Ihnatko, and Rene Ritchie (to a smaller extent) got through trashing and tearing the MacBook Pro limb from limb, from keyboard to Touch Bar, Leo La Porte heaved a big sigh, lowered his head and said, “But they’re selling really well. A lot of people are buying them.”
So it’s always the same meme from the so-called techie crowd. People who buy Apple products are stupid and that’s really the only explanation that crowd has for why something like the AirPods have succeeded in the market place.
I'm approaching middle age and the need for a "get off my lawn" sign, but I'm an entrenched Apple ecosystem user because things just work. I don't have to worry about standing on one leg and holding my tongue just right and hope that whatever awesome tech junk I bought will work that day. Apple makes things simple and makes their stuff work well together. That said, I have yet to purchase Air Pods. I have had them in my cart many times ready to pull the trigger but then I pause because these were released in 2016. We are coming up on 2018, so shouldn't there be some sort of refresh coming out? Not sure what that is aside from a different case (separate purchase anyhow, I know) but I'm nervous about spending the 2018 price on 2016 tech and then right after they come out with something that has a slight change...but in Apple I trust to change when needed and not "because".
So here I sit, waiting still. I'm sure someone reading this knows there is no refresh or upgrade coming and if that's the case I'd be happy to know. :)
there will be a refresh, the wireless charging case.
AirPods are among the best things to ever happen in technology, in my opinion.
For another view from the UK, the capital of anti-Apple envy, see the Macalope:
https://www.macworld.com/article/3239354/phone-accessories/if-you-don-t-have-anything-nice-to-say-about-airpods-write-it-up.html
Well the keyboard and touch bar seem to have some issues. I think the touch bar is a bit of a test for Apple, they want to see if people can shift from the mouse to touch easily, the answer is not really.
Airpods are great though.