Apple Reportedly Lowering AirPods Production Due to Decreasing Sales

Apple is cutting production of its ultra-popular AirPods by around 25% to 30% due to a decrease in sales as a result of increased competition in the wireless earphone industry, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia.

airpods pro roundup
According to the report, citing sources familiar with Apple's production plans, the tech giant now plans to produce only roughly 75 to 85 million units of AirPods for the remainder of this year. It had initially planned to aim for 110 million units.

Apple now expects to make between 75 million and 85 million units for 2021, compared with a previous production forecast of 110 million units.

"The most significant order reduction is for the second quarter toward the start of the third quarter," said one of the people familiar with the matter. "The levels of inventory [in warehouses] and in-store stocks of AirPods are currently high ... and demand is not as strong as expected."

The report does not specify which AirPods specifically will see a production cut. Apple's current AirPods lineup includes the AirPods Pro, the second-generation standard AirPods with wireless charging, and the $550 over-ear AirPods Max. AirPods and AirPods Pro are expected to be upgraded this year, which Apple hopes will "stimulate sales," according to the report.

Towards the end of 2020, Apple updated its entire product lineup, ranging from new iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and more. The AirPods, which have dominated the wireless earphone market since their debut, was one of the only Apple products not to receive an upgrade towards the end of the year.

Apple is rumored to be working on third-generation AirPods with a design similar to the AirPods Pro but lacks "Pro" features such as Active Noise Cancelation. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that production of the new AirPods will begin in the third quarter of the year.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 3
Tag: Nikkei
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...

Top Rated Comments

Kierkegaarden Avatar
59 months ago
If next generation AirPods are expected in Q3, and reductions are happening between Q2 and Q3, couldn’t this possibly mean that the reductions are planned around the new model being released?

The info shared wouldn’t factor in production data on an unreleased product.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
59 months ago
I bet the AirPods Max don't sell that well, priced too high.

Also, make them last longer, AirPods last for just a few years, then tossed in the bin because the battery is dead.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
59 months ago
Shocking news. Maybe the prices are too high... make it affordable, please.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MecPro Avatar
59 months ago
Diminishing returns when you get over £100. I mean the tech when you’re in the iOS environment is cool, but if I didn’t buy them right at the beginning when less options were available, then I probably may have opted for another brand.

I’ve seen some Anker Wireless buds that have over 20,000 reviews on Amazon and are 4.5/5 and are £40.

Also during the lockdown it didn’t make sense to have earbuds that only last less than 5 hours when you have work calls and stuff. I had my Bose NC700 and Jabra Evolve 85 on a lot more due to longer battery life, comfort and the ability to be connected to more than one device across different OS
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haruhiko Avatar
59 months ago
SHOCKING: if you don’t update a product for 2 years (okay okay, 1.5 years), after so many people have already bought the product, the sales will go down.

The AirPods Pro is so good that I don’t know what I want for the next version - given that Apple replaced my APP for free twice (one within the warranty period; another time under the replacement program), so now I have relatively new batteries inside the APP too.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
59 months ago

I would like to upgrade from my AirPod Pros... they have horrible battery life and tons of glitches like crackling!
AirPods in generally do not seem to be made to last, but I have bad luck with Apple headphones in general. Even before, the wired ones would die on me within a year (usually the left piece for some reason would stop working).

I had to get my AirPod replaced once (also the left one started to fail) and even with the replacement they last about 30 minutes now. My AirPod Pro also had to be replaced before because of the cracking issue. Lesson learned, if I ever do get AirPods again (they ARE convenient) I will add AppleCare+ to them for sure
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)