Apple’s Tough Week: AirPods Delayed And Shares Down

Apple’s earnings results were certainly not enough to send investors running from the hills – but it seems the latest and greatest out of Cupertino certainly have been enough to give investors pause as they wonder what Apple’s future looks like if the iPhone is not selling as well as it once did. As of the last earnings report – the iPhone is 63 percent of Apple revenue – and though there have been some high profile launches (The Apple Watch most notably) no obvioulsy heir apparent has strode out to take the stage.

And because bad news likes to travel in packs – the iPhone 7’s big design change – ditching the earphone port – has turn into a fairly notable problem.  The fancy, shmancy new Air Buds that were supposed to really make the new design pop. Well apaprently they are not quite ready for mass consumption just yet.

The Air Pod Bust

Those hoping to buy a set of AirPods for Christmas for themselves or someone they love might just have to keep on hoping.  Apple has announced that the AirPods first revealed at their fall event in September are not quite ready for Prime Time.

The wireless ear buds — for as yet unknown reasons — are not ready to ship out just yet, according to Apple, who made the announcement between a lackluster earnings report and a planned MacBook event in San Francisco later today (Oct. 27)

It have been previously believed the AirPods would get a launch date at said event.

“The early response to AirPods has been incredible,” a spokeswoman for Apple said in a statement to CNNMoney. “We don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready, and we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers.”

AirPods basically look like ear buds with out the wire – though Apple’s vision of the future of headphone technology also includes some tech upgrades like a built-in microphone for Siri voice commands and phone calls with sensors that know when they’re inside your ears.

Apple declined to elaborate on why it needs more time, though watcher are hoping perhaps the plan is to clue the world in during their Mac Book event planned for later today (October 27)

Glum Investors

But investors are pretty clearly unhappy with Cupertino this week — meaning this was probably a less-than-great time to announce uncertainty. Apple dropped 4.2 percent Wednesday as the company’s outlook for the holiday quarter didn’t satisfy investors’ expectations.

Apple’s revenue estimates suggested 76 million iPhone sales in the holiday quarter — which is an improvement on the 74.8 million sold in the year-ago quarter. Stifel analyst Aaron C. Rakers noted that the company’s current quarter will include an extra week, padding the iPhone sale results.

Analysts also noted that the slowdown in the iPhone product has not been balanced out by the other parts of Apple’s device line-up as sales of the iPad, Apple Watch and MacBook have also all been down. And while the AirPods might have been a hit — it is unknown when anyone will be able to buy them.

On the upside, they did not catch on fire or explode in consumers’ ears, which as of late 2016 is actually a mark of distinction.