Apple cuts AirPods production by over a quarter

Weakening demand for AirPods has reportedly meant Apple cutting 25% to 30% of its AirPods production for 2021.

As the forthcoming "AirPods 3" release is now not expected until Q3 2021, sales of the current models appear to be waning. Industry sources say that Apple had forecast producing 110 million AirPods over 2021, but is now revising that down to between 75 million and 85 million.

According to Nikkei Asia, the decrease is due to intensifying competition in the wireless earbuds market. The publication has no breakdown of any differences across AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max.

"The levels of inventory [in warehouses] and in-store stocks of AirPods are currently high... and demand is not as strong as expected," an unnamed source told Nikkei Asia. "The most significant order reduction is for the second quarter toward the start of the third quarter."

Reportedly, one reason for high levels of AirPods in stock is that sales also fell short of expectations in 2020. Apple is believed to have ordered between 80 million and 90 million AirPods over the year, but sold only 72.8 million.

That still represented 31% of the total market for all wireless earbuds. The remainder, however, has been captured by cheaper alternatives. Apple has at times been rumored to launch an "AirPods Pro Lite" in the first half of 2021, which would presumably be a lower cost option.

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25 Comments

The_New_tonton 37 comments · 4 Years

About 3 years ago

AirPods Pro messed up my ears. Serious reaction every time I wear them. Staff at the Apple Store said you’re not supposed to wash the tips. It’s the new “you’re holding it wrong” but worse.

I ended up buying memory foam tips which I hate — and by then it was too late, my ears have now become too sensitive to wear them at all.

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

I wonder if people will stop buying them as the batteries start wearing out of the original purchases and the realisation sets in of how temporary they are.

jas99 168 comments · 11 Years

My original versions are both still going strong. How many years of use is that? I don’t even know.

Temporary? You’re flat out wrong.

jcs2305 1341 comments · 11 Years

The_New_tonton said:

AirPods Pro messed up my ears. Serious reaction every time I wear them. Staff at the Apple Store said you’re not supposed to wash the tips. It’s the new “you’re holding it wrong” but worse.

I ended up buying memory foam tips which I hate — and by then it was too late, my ears have now become too sensitive to wear them at all.

What was your expectation when taking them to the Apple store exactly? You obviously have an allergy to the material they use? Did you tell the person at the store that you washed them with something besides just plain water? It clearly states to not uses anything but a water dampened cloth to wipe them clean.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208729

There is no alternative material that the Apple store could have offered you, so at that point you needed to decide if you wanted to return them or continue on. This is not like your holding it wrong at all actually because there is nothing that you can do to change your reaction to the material, unlike the attenuation caused by holding the iPhone 4 a certain way? I thought the your holding it wrong comment was ridiculous and not ok when it happened just making a comparison.

I also have sensitive ears and my Pro's cause my ears to itch after using them for a while. For the record this is an issue I have with every canal style headphone I have used. It seems like my ears get warm and then after a while i need to itch and readjust them. I am thinking I may have a silicone allergy or my ears are just react that way from a combination of outside contaminants and silicone. I am not really sure honestly.

I have found that if I run the tips under water every few days and dry them completely the itching is not as bad or happens as fast. Although it never truly stops happening.

avon b7 8008 comments · 20 Years

jas99 said:

My original versions are both still going strong. How many years of use is that? I don’t even know.
Temporary? You’re flat out wrong.

The batteries inside them are temporary by definition. I can't see how that can be flat out wrong. There's a chemical reaction going on which is affected by other factors such as heat, cold, usage patterns etc. Charging and use capacity is not indefiniteThe fact that the batteries inside them cannot be replaced simply makes the temporary nature of them clearer.

It's logical that, as buyers wake up to this reality, they will become far more cautious of future purchases (especially if they are precisely cheap).