Airpods: Faced with disappointing sales, Apple would have dropped its orders for 2021 |Watchgeneration

The sales of AirPods and Airpods Pro would not be as good as Apple hoped, so that its orders with its suppliers would have dropped for 2021.This is in any case what Nikkei Asia reports, who quotes sources in the environment.The absence of new features and especially the competition that grips its weapons are the two explanations for these worst performance than expected.

In 2021, it was estimated that Apple would produce 110 million AirPods, but the new figures would be 75 to 85 million units "only".This remains a big success for wireless headphones, but the manufacturer would find it difficult to estimate its sales.Already in 2020, Apple would have initially thought of selling between 80 and 90 million AirPods, while it was around 72.8 million headphones that were sold according to the Centerpoint analysis firm.

With such a score, Apple still dominates the sector with a market share of 31 %.Nevertheless, the stocks of unsold AirPods would have been substantial at the end of last year, while the company was wrong with a big peak sales for the holiday season.These important stocks would contribute today to the decreases of orders announced by Nikkei Asia.The decreases would mainly affect the second quarter that begins, which suggests that new AirPods and Airpods Pro are scheduled for the third quarter and could relaunch sales.

The absence of new products would weigh on these less good than expected results, but the most important factor would be the rise in competition.The really wireless headphones should grow again this year with 310 million aircraft sold, one third more than in 2020.This gain will also benefit Apple, even if it is mainly its competitors who should gain ground and we expect a new drop in the AirPods market share in 2021.

This product imagined by Apple defined the segment as we know it today and its market share of 60 % in 2018 is only a distant memory now.Xiaomi would be one of the big winners, with a market share that has already doubled between 2019 and 2020 (from 6 to 12 %) and which could increase even more this year.There is little doubt that the Cupertino firm should quickly give up its number one place, at least on the volumes.

In the meantime, these large stocks are beneficial for consumers.The two AirPods currently sold are still on promotion and they are found at several tens of euros less than the official price displayed on the Apple Store: