Apple’s AirPods Might Not Ship Until January, According to New and Inconsistent Rumors

Bad news for those of you who were hoping to snag a pair of Apple’s AirPods in time for the holidays, either for yourself or as a stocking stuffer. Apple still has yet to confirm a launch date for its first pair of wireless earphones, following its initial delay, and according to a Chinese-language report by the Economic Daily News, there’s a chance that Apple won’t rollout AirPods until January 2017.

The report, which was partially translated and cited by DigiTimes, stated that Apple supplier Inventec expects to begin shipping the AirPods in January 2017, based on information it received from “market watchers.” Inventec is a Taiwanese original design manufacturer that is believed to be handling the final assembly of the earphones, according to rumors, which caused its stock to spike 5.27% earlier in September. Its revenues are expected to grow 7% to $23.83 billion thanks to robust demand for AirPods.

This report was contradicted by Apple Insider, which dismissed its claims as “bogus” and quoted one source familiar with the company’s plans who declared that there was “no way that these are getting pushed to January.” Apple Insider also reported that several Apple retail stores already have customer demo units and have trained their staff on the product, further suggesting that Apple is poised to launch the AirPods before the end of 2016.

While the AirPods were originally slated to rollout by the end of October, an Apple spokesperson announced last week that the company needed “a little more time” to prepare its products for general release. Cupertino declined to elaborate further on the cause of the delay. Instead, the spokesperson commented matter-of-factly that Apple does not “believe in shipping a product before it’s ready”, leading some to speculate whether hardware or software issues were affecting the devices.

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