Coronavirus: Chip shipments for Apple AirPods remain unpredictable in the second quarter of 2020

People are starting to wonder what will happen with the smartphone and wearables' market in consequence to the current ongoing pandemic. Products are announced online, some smartphone models are experiencing delays, even the stock market valuation of some companies is decreasing. Digitimes now reports that Unitech, a Taiwan-based company, responsible for supplying some hardware parts for Apple’s TWS AirPods, is unable to give an estimation on chip order fulfillment for the second quarter of the year.

The company’s revenue for the month of March 2020 shrank 34% compared to last year, because of lower shipments of boards for Apple’s AirPods second-generation with wireless charging case, and is estimated now at around $37.88 million. For the entire first quarter of 2020, the company’s revenues have decreased by 24.8% in comparison to 2019’s first quarter.

The ongoing public health crisis has driven an increase in demand for notebooks, tables, servers and network gear, given the fact that almost the whole world has transitioned to working or studying remotely at the moment. However, shipments for True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds are experiencing a stagnation, according to Digitimes’ sources.

Additionally, production priority in factories is usually given to higher-end AirPods Pro series. In consequence, Unitech is unable to estimate shipments of boards for the standard AirPods (with wireless charging case) for the second quarter of the year. The aforementioned second-gen AirPods (not the Pro ones) amount to almost half of Unitech’s annual revenue for 2019.

However, Apple has reportedly not cut orders, even though there is a significant delay in shipments for the aforementioned earbuds’ chip boards.