Apple’s AirPods appear to be sold out through the holiday season, according to locations tracked on Apple’s U.S. website and based on a scan of other top shopping sites.
If you attempt to buy the wireless earbuds on Apple’s site, they won’t be delivered until early January at the soonest. Amazon doesn’t have any new AirPods available, and you can’t find them in stock at the websites for Best Buy, Target, Frys or B&H.
So it looks like shoppers searching for the $159 stocking stuffers are out of luck for now, and will have to wait until 2018. Here’s what happens for people shopping at bestbuy.com.
Bloggers across the world have weighed in on the topic. CNBC reached out to Apple for details on availability, but the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
AirPods have proven to be a hot ticket after getting off to a rough start. They were introduced in September 2016 but didn’t hit shelves until mid-December, after Apple said it needed more time to ship the device amid spotty early reviews. AirPods have enjoyed growing popularity in the year since.
Early shopping data from Adobe had indicated that this holiday shopping season would be big for AirPods, and top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier predicted shipments will double next year.
While accessories are still a relatively small portion of Apple’s business, the division is growing. The other products category, which includes AirPods, hit revenue of $3.23 billion in Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter, up 36 percent from a year earlier.
Mobile phone makers have put more emphasis on voice recognition this year, and have phased out 3.5-mm headphone jacks.
Source: Tech CNBC
Apple's AirPods appear to be sold out ahead of Christmas