At a media event in September, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said the AirPod wireless headphones would be available in late October. PHOTO: BECK DIEFENBACH/REUTERS

 

Apple Inc. on Tuesday began selling its AirPod wireless headphones after a nearly two-month delay that ate into holiday sales.

Apple first said AirPods ordered online Tuesday would arrive Dec. 21. Yet by midmorning New York time, Apple’s website was showing that newly ordered AirPods would be shipped in four weeks. The devices also will be available for $159 at Apple stores and authorized retail locations next week.

The company said AirPods, which it initially said would go on sale in October, would be shipped in “limited quantities” at launch. They are expected to be available in 100 countries, including the U.S., Canada, China, Germany and Japan.

Apple declined to say how many units would be available or why the AirPods were delayed.

The delay marked a rare public misstep for Apple. In September, Apple marketing chiefPhil Schiller hailed the earbuds as the entree to a wireless future, with seamless connection to an iPhone and five-hour battery life. In part, the AirPods were promoted as a successor to the headphone jack, which Apple removed from the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

In September, Mr. Schiller said the devices would be shipped in October, but late that month Apple said shipments were delayed. Last week, a spokeswoman for Apple said: “We need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers.”

The reasons for the delay became a subject of speculation among wireless-technology experts, with theories focusing on the challenges of perfecting the way sound reached the earpieces using Bluetooth technology.

Barclays in November said Apple planned to make 10 million to 15 million AirPod units initially. By comparison, Apple shipped nearly 75 million iPhones in the final three months of 2015.

Source: WSJ