Apple's Chinese Suppliers Are Making AirPods Max in Vietnam - MacRumors
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Apple's Chinese Suppliers Are Making AirPods Max in Vietnam

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Apple's Chinese supply partners saw off competition from Taiwanese rivals to bag the majority of orders for Apple's newly unveiled AirPods Max over-ear headphones, a new report today claims.

airpods max internals 1
According to DigiTimes, Chinese manufacturers Luxshare Precision Industry and Goertek won the majority of AirPods Max orders, despite Taiwan-based Iventec's involvement in the early development of the headphones.

The Chinese makers beat Taiwanese rivals to the AirPods Max orders, even though Inventec Appliances had reportedly participated in the early development of the device, said the sources.

Inventec is already a major Apple supplier of AirPods Pro and it's not clear exactly why it lost out on orders of AirPods Max, but it's possible the Taiwan-based manufacturer's production lines lacked the diversification needed to assemble the new devices, which were reportedly delayed multiple times because of production issues.

DigiTimes' sources suggest that both Luxshare and Goertek are actually producing AirPods Max at their plants in Vietnam, underscoring Apple's plan to accelerate the relocation of its related supply chains out of China, without necessarily moving on from its Chinese partners.

AirPods Max are now backordered until March on Apple's online store, although Apple and third-party retailers like Best Buy and Amazon could theoretically have stocks replenished sooner.

Related Roundup: AirPods Max 2
Tag: DigiTimes
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Related Forum: AirPods

Top Rated Comments

I
iBluetooth
70 months ago

I'm sure the parts assembly worth no more than $150-$200.. if not even cheaper. I'll not be surprise to hear ridiculous ratio to the insane overpriced $549!
Your sure! You have no idea of what the parts cost. It's not overpriced if the sound quality matches or exceeds the other headphones in this price range. What is overpriced is the Bose plastic headphones with low quality sound, or the Sony ones with good sound, but horrible voice mice as people speaking on it sound like inside a can. Why, do people focus on the price as I know that Apple sound engineers are extremely good, after hearing the Homepods. At least these include 9 microphones and two cpus for generating the sound. Which will probably be superb, but people complain of the price.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
newyorksole
70 months ago

Your sure! You have no idea of what the parts cost. It's not overpriced if the sound quality matches or exceeds the other headphones in this price range. What is overpriced is the Bose plastic headphones with low quality sound, or the Sony ones with good sound, but horrible voice mice as people speaking on it sound like inside a can. Why, do people focus on the price as I know that Apple sound engineers are extremely good, after hearing the Homepods. At least these include 9 microphones and two cpus for generating the sound. Which will probably be superb, but people complain of the price.
Thank you!! Lmao every single negative post I see focuses on the price and they speak NOTHING about the build quality or sound (which they haven’t tested). I really don’t get it.

All of these people hate Apple yet still buy their stuff...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
N
NotTooLate
70 months ago

I’m concerned about the battery more than the price. I like to get as much use out of my Apple products that I can and currently, my AirPods are two years old and the battery makes them almost useless and the batteries cannot be replaced. I don’t want to make a $549 investment for the same thing to happen in two years. I know that they can be wired but without power, none of the technology will function making these a basic pair of headphones. I’m just not yet convinced that spending that kind of money on a first generation product on headphones, people keep comparing them to Bose and Sony etc. but they forget that those companies have been making headphones a lot longer than Apple.
" the batteries cannot be replaced" - The batteries are replaceable and are serviced by Apple.

"but they forget that those companies have been making headphones a lot longer than Apple." - not a good way of looking at things , look at Tesla , or M1 , or countless other examples , when you are at the top , companies have a benchmark to clear , and there is no reason to believe Apple cant clear that benchmark with enough resources invested.
Its not like its their first go at an Audio product ....
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The_Gream Avatar
The_Gream
70 months ago
Can’t people just wait and see anymore, before they use their fingers to look like bags of hot air?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
newyorksole
70 months ago

Genuinely baffled by so many comments supporting headphones when no has even heard them.
How is saying “try them before you hear them” being ‘supportive’?

You think it makes sense to essentially judge a book by its cover without even giving it a chance when there are other products priced the same or HIGHER?

Baffling.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
Macaday
70 months ago

I'm sure the parts assembly worth no more than $150-$200.. if not even cheaper. I'll not be surprise to hear ridiculous ratio to the insane overpriced $549!
Genuinely baffled by so many comments about these being insanely overpriced when no one has even heard them. If they are only as good as the Sony XM4's then yes, they are over priced. If they are better, then they are worth more. Perhaps we should wait and see? Apple have a pretty good track record now of great sound (not audiophile sound) with HomePod & AirPods Pro.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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