According to several reports, the Cupertino-based company is planning to release high-end over-ear headphones as well as a new version of the popular AirPods in 2019.
Considering that Apple’s main source of revenue, its iPhone business, isn’t growing as quickly as it used to and the Mac and iPad segments have also cooled off recently, it makes sense for Apple to build another leg to stand on.
Starting with the iPod in the early 2000s, Apple has a history of highly successful audio products and its headphones, both the Apple-branded AirPods as well as Beats headphones, are a hit with customers.
As this chart illustrates, the “Other Products” segment that sums up all of Apple’s audio products along with Apple TV, Apple Watch and other accessories accounted for $17.4 billion in revenue in the company's latest fiscal year, more than doubling in size since 2014.