Will Apple risk launching low-cost AirPods in 2023? This is in any case what affirms the analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech, who cites industrial sources. According to him, the Cupertino company wants to tackle the competition in this key segment.
2023 will be the year of change for Apple. Changes first of all concerning the manufacturer’s strategy. Annoyed by the disappointing sales of the iPhone 14, the Cupertino company has decided to change tack for the launch of the iPhone 15 in 2023. It would notably be a question of a reduction in the price of each variant, while the manufacturer is also thinking about further marking the differences between the Vanilla models and the Plus/Pro/Max iterations.
The idea being to justify in the eyes of consumers the greater investment in these high-end versions. But that’s not all, since according to analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech, Apple could also change its plans regarding the AirPods.
More specifically and according to industry sources, the apple brand is currently working on AirPods Lite, an entry-level version of its famous wireless headphones. The idea being with this new product to go directly to the references of this segment, like the Freebuds of Huawei or the Ear (1) of Nothing.
AirPods Lite to compensate for the absence of new models in 2023?
In addition, the informant claims, still according to his sources, that the demand for AirPods will drop considerably in 2023. Thus, shipments could drop from 73 million copies in 2022 to 63 million this year. This fall would be linked to two factors, the first being a “low demand for 3″ Airpods, and the second being that Apple has not made it official to launch new AirPods in 2023.
If we follow the logic of the analyst, these AirPods Lite could therefore be offered from 2024 at a lower price than the AirPods 2, currently displayed at €159 in France. Regarding the technical aspect of these AirPods Lite, we will have to wait unfortunately. The analyst did not share any information on this subject. On this point, however, we are curious.
Concretely, these AirPods Lite would have to offer even less than the recent AirPods 3, which, as a reminder, were already satisfied with the union minimum (very limited compatibility with Android, no customization of controls, audio quality far from exceptional, and above all no noise reduction) for a starting price set at 209 euros all the same.
Source: 9To5Mac