According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report Friday, tech giant Apple's AirPods wireless earphones will likely not be available for purchase during the 2016 holiday season because of a delayed launch by the company.
The $159-priced AirPods wireless earphones were announced by Apple in September this year as a companion to the company's latest iPhones --- iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Since both the new iPhone models do not feature the headphone jack for slotting in conventional earphones, Apple had unveiled AirPods with great fanfare, as a replacement for conventional earphones.
When Apple unveiled the AirPods in September, it planned to start shipping the earphones to customers in October. However, the earphones were delayed by the company in October, without citing any specific reason. The company simply said that month: "We need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers."
According to the WSJ report, based on the information shared by an unidentified source, the delayed launch of the AirPods is rooted in technology issues with the manner in which wireless signals are received by the earphones through Bluetooth.
Meanwhile, about the delayed AirPods launch, which implies that Apple would miss the holiday sales season, Moor Insights & Strategy's chief analyst Patrick Moorhead said: "I think it's a minor blow to the brand, but not a big one, long term. [But] if there are continued hiccups then this, of course, changes."
