Santa Claus is comin' to town, but he may not have any Apple AirPods Pro 2 on the back of his sleigh.
In a series of tweets, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that a "key Apple supplier" called Goertek has been asked to "suspend the assembly production" of a "smart acoustic product" (via 9to5Mac).
Kuo asserts that product in question "may be the Apple AirPods Pro 2" wireless earbuds. He adds that the issues are probably down to production as opposed to lack of demand, and that another Apple supplier, Luxshare, may become the exclusive assembler of AirPods Pro 2.
It's not impossible. China-based Luxshare is already known for producing Apple AirPods and has won a string of contracts from Apple in recent times, to the point that it is in the process of building a "mega-plant" that could see it rival Foxconn, Apple's most prominent supplier.
(3/6)Apple's key supplier Goertek officially announced on November 8 that the company recently received a notice from a major overseas client to suspend the assembly production for a smart acoustic product. My latest survey is as follows.November 8, 2022
The long-awaited AirPods Pro 2 were finally announced in September, alongside the iPhone 14. We rated the £249 / $249 / AU$399 buds the full five stars for their wonderfully-rich sound, improved noise-cancelling, longer battery life and excellent iOS-based features.
Elsewhere, Kuo tips Apple to ship 20 million pairs of AirPods Pro 2 in the fourth quarter of 2022. That sounds like a lot but with Apple seemingly down to one supplier, it might not be long before Santa's stock is running low.
As it stands, Apple's latest-gen ANC buds are currently in stock at Amazon in the UK, US and Australia. But with Black Friday and the holiday sales almost upon us, anyone expecting to find a pair of AirPods Pro 2 under their tree might want to heed Kuo's warning.
MORE:
AirPods Pro 2 (2022) vs AirPods Pro: what are the differences?
See how Apple's over-ear headphones perform in our Apple AirPods Max review
These are the best Apple AirPods alternatives: budget to premium
