Monday in CE: Apple AirPods Are Absolutely Crushing it Right Now

Despite the mixed reviews and odd-shaped design, consumers have embraced Apple’s AirPods with open arms. According to at least one estimate, Apple has sold roughly 13-14 million pairs of its truly wireless earbuds, making them the most successful earbuds on the market. But that figure is expected to balloon in 2018.

Tech market analyst Ming-Chi Kou said that he expects shipments of the wireless earbuds to reach roughly 26-28 million units this year—a 100 percent increase, year over year.

At launch in late 2016, Apple struggled to meet demand for the AirPods, consistently posting a 5-6 week delay in shipment. That lasted through much of the first year, but Apple has since added a second manufacturer to its roster, which has helped improve the assembly process. According to Appleinsider, Inventec used to be the sole supplier of AirPods, until Apple added Luxshare-ICT to the mix.

The $159 AIrPods are built around Apple’s custom W1 wireless chip, which allows for easy pairing for Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account. In September, Apple announced that it plans to add a wireless charging case to the AirPods, which will allow the product to be charged via Apple’s forthcoming AirPower charging mat and other Qi wireless charging mats.

Sony Sensor Factory

A rare glimpse inside @Sony's giant Kumamoto sensor factory https://t.co/bqJK0iyhoz pic.twitter.com/Bw9pajWYPr

— TechRadar (@techradar) December 4, 2017

Techradar got a pretty rare behind-the-scenes look at Sony’s sensor factory in Kumamoto, Japan, about 550 miles outside of Japan. The location, though odd, was specifically chosen for the plant because of its proximity to “incredibly pure water” that is essential in the production of image sensors.

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