The AirPods Pro, which are priced at RMB 1,999, are identical to standard AirPods Pro but feature an ox engraved on the charging case. They also ship in a box that has the same ox icon on it.
In addition to launching new AirPods Pro for Chinese New Year, Apple has a special Chinese New Year gift guide on its website in China, recommending gifts that include iPhone 12 models, MagSafe accessories, the special edition AirPods, Apple Watch, M1 Macs, iPads, and more.
Apple unveiled the new AirPods Pro on WeChat. "Here comes a box of blessings for the Year of the Ox," reads the translated announcement, which is also accompanied by several ox-themed graphics and an Apple Music playlist with songs for the new year. In 2021, Chinese New Year will begin on Friday, February 2021.
Apple says that the ox-themed AirPods Pro are in short supply, with a total of 25,400 available. 11,480 of those will be sold in retail stores, while 13,920 are available for purchase online.
I, for one, can't support any particular support of Chinese culture over any other culture. Why is this special?
Speaking from the stance of market(s) -
"According to November data from Counterpoint Research, Apple had just 8 percent of the market share in China during the third quarter of 2019, down from 9 percent during the same time period in 2018. Huawei is the market leader with a 40 percent share, trailed by Vivo, Oppo and Xiomi"
As an AAPL holder since 1999, I don't really care about this. I do care about market diversification - manufacturing efficiencies, and an edge over competitors in emergent markets and unrealized spaces. This, to me, looks like some kind of appeasement. Does the combined tax+labour offset in China really impact your COG to such an extent that China, your *minority* market gets special and highly unique branding? ...
5) wtf.
This is borderline jingoistic hypocrisy.
First of all, China is Apple's largest market by revenue and has been for over ten years. It's not important for Apple to be the dominant brand in any specific market, they just want to be the dominant brand at the high end, where the lion's share of the profits are. This includes the United States of America and every other industrialized nation (UK, France, Germany, Japan, etc.).
You claim to be an AAPL shareholder since 1999 [sic] and yet you don't seem to realize that most of Apple's phone handset competitors ship the majority of their volume in dumbphones (a.k.a. "feature phones") and low-end smartphones, often at a loss.
Second, by your criteria Apple should ditch all regionally specific promotional activity. That would meaning dumping Black Friday sales in Western countries.
Remember that southeast Asian countries don't recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This includes Japan (which gets the Lucky Bag promotion) and China (which get this type of lunar new year promotion).
Why should Western nations get Christian-themed promotions and shut out the rest of non-Christian world (which happens to have a majority in population)?
And what about back-to-school promotions? Not every country starts the school year in the fall (August-September-October).
Please feel free to expound on your reasoning why regional Apple sales divisions can't use some of their discretionary promotional budget in an appropriate and timely manner to increase sales.
I, for one, can't support any particular support of Chinese culture over any other culture. Why is this special?
There are roughly 50 million ethnic Chinese people living outside China/HK/Taiwan, and many of them are not even citizens of PRC nor born in China. So let's be clear first that Chinese culture != CCP/PRC.
Besides, how is this different than Apple releasing pride watch band or celebrating black history month?
Apple is preparing to launch third-generation AirPods this year, and plans to release second-generation AirPods Pro next year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In line with previous leaks and rumors, Gurman explained that Apple is readying third-generation AirPods for launch later this year. The updated earbuds will apparently come with a new case and feature shorter stems, broadly...
Woot today has a solid discount on Apple's AirPods Pro, which are available for $189.99, down from $249.00. This is one of the lowest ongoing prices that we have tracked for the AirPods Pro, and they're beating Amazon's current sale by $7.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site...
Apple today announced that starting in June, Apple Music songs will be available to stream in Lossless and Hi-Resolution Lossless formats, but lossless audio won't be supported on the AirPods, AirPods Max, or AirPods Pro.
Apple's Lossless Audio is encoded as Apple Lossless Audio Codec files, with lossless quality ranging from 16-bit 44.1 kHz playback to 24-bit 48 kHz playback and Hi-Res...
Apple today shared a new AirPods Pro-focused ad called "Jump" on its YouTube channel, highlighting the Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency features of the earbuds in a creative way.
In the spot, a man wearing AirPods Pro jump ropes through the city. It's set to the song "Fallin' Apart" by Young Franco, and it features the tagline "Turn the world into your playground with AirPods Pro."
...
Amid continuing signs that third-generation AirPods are in the works, a number of images of the new design have purportedly leaked online.
Images recently shared by 52audio claim to reveal the updated design of the third-generation AirPods, perhaps giving us the first clear look at Apple's next-generation wireless earbuds.
The images depict AirPods with a shorter stem and a design very...
Wednesday December 16, 2020 3:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's third-generation AirPods, which are expected to adopt the AirPods Pro design but lack noise-cancelling and transparency features, will launch in the first half of next year for around $200, claims a new report from TheElec today.
Not for the first time in the rumor sphere, today's report refers to the earbuds as a "Lite" version of the AirPods Pro, but TheElec additionally suggests...
Woot today reintroduced its popular sale on Apple's AirPods Pro, marking down the headphones to $189.99, from $249.00. Last month we saw the AirPods Pro drop to around $179 on Amazon, but sales like that have been rare, while Woot's has been the most consistent around online in early 2021.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a...
Woot is back with a solid discount on Apple's AirPods Pro, which are available for $189.99, down from $249.00. This is one of the lowest ongoing prices that we have tracked for the AirPods Pro, and they're beating Amazon's current sale by $10.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the...
Today we're tracking a pair of deals on the AirPods with Wired Charging Case and the AirPods Pro. To start, Woot has brought back its popular holiday sale on the AirPods Pro, marking the Bluetooth headphones down to $189.99, from $249.00.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep...
Sunday February 21, 2021 2:49 am PST by Sami Fathi
A new image claims to offer our first real world look at Apple's next-generation AirPods. The image, shared by 52audio, showcases both AirPods and the charging case for what the site claims to be the third iteration of the wireless earbuds.
52audio has in the past shared images claiming to showcase different parts of the third-generation AirPods. Most notably, the site in November shared...
Top Rated Comments
First of all, China is Apple's largest market by revenue and has been for over ten years. It's not important for Apple to be the dominant brand in any specific market, they just want to be the dominant brand at the high end, where the lion's share of the profits are. This includes the United States of America and every other industrialized nation (UK, France, Germany, Japan, etc.).
You claim to be an AAPL shareholder since 1999 [sic] and yet you don't seem to realize that most of Apple's phone handset competitors ship the majority of their volume in dumbphones (a.k.a. "feature phones") and low-end smartphones, often at a loss.
Second, by your criteria Apple should ditch all regionally specific promotional activity. That would meaning dumping Black Friday sales in Western countries.
Remember that southeast Asian countries don't recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This includes Japan (which gets the Lucky Bag promotion) and China (which get this type of lunar new year promotion).
Why should Western nations get Christian-themed promotions and shut out the rest of non-Christian world (which happens to have a majority in population)?
And what about back-to-school promotions? Not every country starts the school year in the fall (August-September-October).
Please feel free to expound on your reasoning why regional Apple sales divisions can't use some of their discretionary promotional budget in an appropriate and timely manner to increase sales.
Besides, how is this different than Apple releasing pride watch band or celebrating black history month?
Kidding. Year of the Ox.