By: Bryan Tropeano
As AirPods are flying off the shelves and in fact, sold out for Christmas, a new rumor is swirling that Apple is planning to release new AirPods in 2018.
This would explain why Apple is having some trouble keeping up with holiday demands. If they’re developing a new version of the popular wireless earbuds while fulfilling demands for the current version then it makes sense they’re going to have some trouble as they’re caught up in a juggling act.
This rumor comes from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo by way of MacRumors. If you follow Mac news and rumors then that name should sound familiar. Many of his Apple predictions have proven out over time.
While he didn’t offer much in terms of what will be different he did predict that the newest AirPods will have a “smaller quartz component.” He also noted that it will continue to be produced by Taiwanese manufacturer Inventec.
“Media reports over the past few days on brisk AirPods demand and Apple struggling to keep up with the holiday season demand align with our findings and positive predictions on AirPods in several previous reports,” Kuo’s report states. “In 2018, we predict AirPods shipments will grow 100% YoY to 26-28mn units. We forecast the ASP of RFPCB for upgraded AirPods in 2H18 may increase, further benefiting business momentum of Unitech and Compeq.”
When the AirPods were originally announced plenty of people were skeptical the little guys were going to pan out. Many were worried users would have trouble keeping them in their ears or have trouble keeping track of them. But in practice, it’s not that dramatic.
They are plenty comfortable and fit in the ears snugly while keeping them in their charging case for storage has proven to be enough to make sure you maintain possession without misplacing them. And the numbers they’re putting up support that fact.
I’m interested to see what they will improve/add/delete in the newest AirPods. They’re pretty simplistic to begin with and my unimaginative mind can’t think with that they might do differently. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
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