From 9to5Mac's "Apple AirPods 3 not launching until Q3, says Ming-Chi Kuo" posted Monday:
Despite a flurry of leaks surrounding next-gen AirPods in the last couple of weeks, Ming-Chi Kuo this morning said that new AirPods will not enter mass production until the third quarter of 2021, which means they won’t be launching imminently...
Kuo says Apple shipped around 90 million AirPods in 2020 and expects that to fall to about 78 million for 2021.
The analyst says Apple may keep second-generation AirPods on the market when AirPods 3 are released. However, he is not sure on this matter yet.
The latest addition to the AirPods family, the $549 over-ear AirPods Max headphones, are said to have limited impact on shipments. Kuo expects Apple will sell just 1 million units across the entire year.
My take: Not having much luck finding support for Kuo's estimate of 90 million AirPods shipped in 2020. Counterpoint estimated at the start of last year that Apple would sell more than 100 million AirPods in 2020. Neil Cybart is also working on an 2020 estimate, but I haven't seen it yet. Apple, of course, is mum on the subject.
See also: How reliable is Ming-Chi Kuo?
Apple has redefined ‘hearables’. This century old industry, like watches, now comprises a super high-end segment and a mess of Apple imitators. (Plus legacy old tech modestly priced products.)
Oh, here’s a new word, “taters” for Apple imitators. Taters short for potatoes, or as the French would say, pomes de terre, translates to apples of the earth.
Now, if Apple only dives deep into fine-tuning the AirPods for individuals who are hard-of-hearing then suddenly you will see an exponential growth and public embrace of this wondrous device. Thank you Apple.
Good luck! I don’t want to use over the ears while running. And don’t want to worry about “drop outs”! 🙂
You can also find little gadgets that hold the AirPod Pros on your ears. Probably not making a tight seal. At least you won’t lose them.
I agree with Jerry’s specific use case of hearing aid replacement. Even though hearing aids are now are pretty advanced, they still seem clunky, old fashioned, and pretty expensive. The use of tiny batteries seems wasteful although they do last almost a week. The one advantage hearing aids do have is they are tailored to be rather innocuous and invisible. Apple could easily address the visibility issue with different skin shades coloring for that particular market although tons of people have been clamoring for skin hue, shade, and some color options. However, a skin or thin case might work better from a production SKU and inventory standpoint.
Two days later, Apple presser- AirPower is cancelled.
The only news worth getting excited over is what Apple reports.