As the years have passed since the launch of the first generation of AirPods, many have been the companies that have launched more than interesting alternatives to the market, so the number of available options has increased considerably (not counting the headphones chinorris).
In the last year, despite the fact that Apple's wearables section has been increasing its sales, this has not been the case with AirPods, whose growth has slowed due to the excessive demand currently available in the market, so it was a matter of time that Apple will halt production.
According to the boys of NikkeiCiting unidentified sources, Apple expects to manufacture between 2021 and 75 million units of AirPods in 85, a figure much lower than the forecast that the company had made that it stood at 110 million.
The revision in the manufacturing forecast confirms that the sale of the AirPods has currently slowed down, despite the fact that since their launch, every year the sales they have been growing in double-digit percentages.
The most significant reduction in orders is for the second quarter towards the beginning of the third. Inventory levels [in warehouses] and in-store stocks for AirPods are currently high… and demand is not as strong as expected.
In January this year, the firm Counterpoint stated that Apple's market share within the category of wireless headphones went from 41% to 29% in the last 9 months of 2020. Still, 29% is more than double the share of its top competitor, Xiaomi, followed by Samsung with a 5% share.
Most likely, the sales of the AirPods are boosted again when at the end of the year, the third generation of AirPods is launched, AirPods that if we ignore the rumors, will have a similar appearance to the AirPods Pro but without the noise cancellation system and a more compact design.