People familiar with the matter said the company plans to launch the headset as early as the end of this year, but it may also postpone its release due to many challenges in the development process.
According to people familiar with the situation, the company encountered problems similar to HomePod in the development process, including several redesigns, so Apple may redesign the headset before releasing the product or simply abandon the project .
According to Apple's latest plan, this noise-canceling headphone will target the high-end market.
According to people familiar with the development of this product, in addition to the noise reduction function, Apple also plans to provide the headset with a wireless pairing function similar to AirPods. This will be a series of music-focused products and services launched by Apple. The latest product.
The company’s largest ever acquisition was to spend $3 billion (approximately $19 billion) to acquire Beats in 2014. This deal has allowed Apple to enter the high-end headphone and music streaming market.
So far, AirPods has been a key factor in the success of Apple's 'other products' category. This category includes AirPods, Beats headphones, Apple Watch, AppleTV and iPad accessories. In the first quarter, this category first created more than 50 Billion U.S. dollars (about 31.7 billion yuan) in revenue, an increase of 36% year-on-year.
In a recent earnings call, Apple said in this category, sales of wearable products, including watches, AirPods and Beats earphones, soared 70% last year.
According to people familiar with the situation, Inventec, Apple's manufacturing partner, may miss the partnership because Apple may work with another supplier, and Inventec makes HomePod speakers and AirPods headsets for Apple.
Ming-ChiKuo, an analyst at KGI Securities, said current Apple suppliers Primax Electronics Ltd. and Shin Zu Shing Co. may partner with Apple on new earphones.
Apple-branded headphones seem to replace Beats earphones, and while Beats sells lower-priced wireless earphones, these wireless earphones may not compete directly with new products.
Despite the popularity of AirPods, sports-oriented wireless Beats headphones still seem to be selling well.
Research and Markets According to the company, Beats, Bose, Sennheiser, Sony and Skullcandy are the leading players in the headphone market and will have annual revenues of 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2023 (about 126.8 billion yuan ), Almost double the expected sales this year.
Market research firm NPD Group said last year that sales of AirPods and Beats earphones helped Apple win 27% of the wireless headset market.