Whilethe rumors were rather optimisticin recent weeks concerning the upcoming arrival in the Apple range of a new generation of its wireless headphones, the AirPods. Here comes Ming Chi Kuo, one of the most renowned analysts regarding the Cupertino company.the cold shower on our expectations. If Kuo makes it clear in his note that his announcement is limited to AirPods Pro, the latter remains quite pessimistic about the release this year of a new generation of headphones. According to him, Apple could not market new “regular” AirPods without offering a new version of the AirPods Pro.
In the rest of his note for investors, Kuo announces that Apple should sell nearly 100 million models in 2022. A figure up compared to his own estimates for 2021, he expects 75 million units sold during this year, due to a small drop in demand coming in the coming months.
Have AirPods reached their glass ceiling?
If AirPods are still selling as well, the number of users of Apple's wireless headphones cannot multiply indefinitely and the market seems to be shrinking more and more for the Cupertino company. The vast majority of potential Apple customers already have a pair of AirPods and as long as there is no new generation released, sales will stagnate for Apple. Another problem for Apple is the arrival of increasingly fierce competition on the market.
If AirPods still control the vast majority of the wireless earphone market, making them a very popular reference for counterfeits, Apple sees its dominant position waver from week to week, while other brands of new technologies arrive with products: efficient, but above all, much cheaper.
In his note to investors Kuo expects that the next generation of AirPods Pro will change design again, abandoning for good the small stem, a vestige of the original AirPods.These new AirPods Pro would therefore look a lot like Samsung's Galaxy Bugs.
