AirPods and AirPods Pro Manufacturing Could Be Impacted by Coronavirus, Leading to Greater Supply Shortages
Apple has been working to ramp up production of the ever-popular AirPods and AirPods Pro, and its efforts to meet supply/demand balance could be in jeopardy due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
According to Nikkei, Apple's major AirPods suppliers Luxshare-ICT, Goertek, and Inventec have been shut down since the beginning of the Lunar New Year and even when work on AirPods resumes next Monday, components could be in short supply because factories all across China have been shuttered due to virus fears.
The AirPods manufacturers have "at most" two weeks worth of materials and components needed for AirPods assembly, and for fresh supplies, they will need to wait for component makers in China to restart operations. Given current conditions, product utilization rates could reach just 50 percent when work on the AirPods resumes.
A person who spoke to Nikkei says that it's unclear if parts suppliers in China will be able to "smoothly resume work" to create enough parts for assembly. "We really have to wait and see how things play out next week. If the assemblers could not get enough supply of parts in two weeks, it will be a big problem," said the source.
Travel restrictions from certain regions in China are likely to create labor shortages at factories, and companies are balancing restarting production while also dealing with fears an employee could bring the virus back to the factory. Foxconn, for example, has already said that workers returning from the Henan province will be sequestered for two weeks, while other staff will be isolated for a week.
Apple was aiming to produce up to 45 million AirPods units in the first half of 2020, but the current AirPods stock is running low and is reserved for Apple's stores. Right now, the regular AirPods remain in stock, but the AirPods Pro are still backordered, as they have been since launch.
Popular Stories
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions.
Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup
The return button, a button for going back to the Messages list, and the FaceTime button have a deeper...
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost.
The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month.
In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4.
For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which...
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall.
Design
There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
