Apple is reportedly scrapping the Beats headphone lineup
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Say goodbye to Beats headphones
Apple entered the true wireless earphones market with a massive bang in late 2016. AirPods quickly became the best-selling wireless earphones on the planet, despite their relatively high price, and they still hold that all-important title today.
The company followed the original pair up with a second-gen version in March 2019 and the noise-cancelling AirPods Pro in October 2019. This helped Apple ship a whopping 58.7 million units last year alone, which gave it an outstanding 54.4% market share per market data.
Once these new products have been introduced, there will be a huge overlap between the Apple and Beats headphone lineups. That is why the Tim Cook-led company is reportedly planning to phase out the Beats lineup over the coming year.
Apple seems to be trying to reduce inventory
This long-term plan could also explain why Apple is offering big discounts on the Beats lineup right now. The Totally Wireless Powerbeats Pro, for example, are less than one year old but have already been discounted by a hefty $50 on the official website.
Whether Apple has any other Beats products up its sleeves for 2020 remains to be seen, but the recently announced Beats Powerbeats 4 may well be the last Beats product before the brand’s discontinuation.