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To celebrate the Lunar New Year that starts on January 29, Apple is releasing limited edition AirPods 4 that are engraved with a special Year of the Snake icon.

year-of-the-snake-airpods.jpg

Apple's Year of the Snake AirPods 4 are available for purchase in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore at the current time.

The AirPods are identical to the standard AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation and are available for the same price, but there is a unique engraving on the USB-C case of the device. Released earlier this year, the AirPods 4 are Apple's first earbuds that offer Active Noise Cancellation without silicone ear tips. The AirPods 4 feature adaptive audio, transparency mode, support for spatial audio, and more.

Customers can place orders for the special edition AirPods 4 as of today, with deliveries set to begin on January 8. Apple is limiting each customer to two of the Year of the Snake AirPods.

Creating special edition AirPods is a tradition for Apple, though in past years, Apple has customized AirPods Pro rather than standard AirPods. There have been limited edition AirPods to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, Year of the Ox, Year of the Tiger, and Year of the Rabbit.

Along with special edition AirPods, Apple is holding a New Year sale in China, dropping the price of the iPhone 16 models by 500 yuan, and discounting other devices like the AirPods, Macs, iPads, and accessories. Apple is also offering Year of the Snake themed Today at Apple sessions from January 4 to February 14.

Article Link: Apple Releases Limited Edition AirPods 4 for Year of the Snake
 
Along with special edition AirPods, Apple is holding a New Year sale in China, dropping the price of the iPhone 16 models by 500 yuan, and discounting other devices like the AirPods, Macs, iPads, and accessories. Apple is also offering Year of the Snake themed Today at Apple sessions from January 4 to February 14.
I don't see how a $68.00 USD discount is going to help turn around iPhone sales.


Sales of foreign phone brands in China plunged in November, according to official data released Friday, underscoring further pressure on Apple, the biggest international handset vendor in the country.

In November, foreign mobile phone shipments in China stood at 3.04 million units, according to CNBC calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT.

That’s a fall of 47.4% from November 2023, and a 51% drop from October last year.


CAICT does not break down figures for individual brands, however Apple accounts for the majority of foreign mobile phone shipments in China with competitors like Samsung forming only a tiny part of the market.


I predict another trip to China for Tim Cook in the very near future.
 
I don't see how a $68.00 USD discount is going to help turn around iPhone sales.


I predict another trip to China for Tim Cook in the very near future.

I predict a blockbuster quarter of sales coming up. There is huge pent up demand in China to capture the latest and greatest iPhones. This promotion will see a lot of trigger pulling on purchases.
 
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I’m sorry, what? This is certainly out of left field.

Edit: Asian market; makes sense with context.
 
I predict a blockbuster quarter of sales coming up. There is huge pent up demand in China to capture the latest and greatest iPhones. This promotion will see a lot of trigger pulling on purchases.
We'll see when Apple reports 1st quarter earnings on Jan 30.

Overall North America sales will be good, but I'm not so sure about China. Greater China sales have declined year-over-year for the last 5 straight quarters
 
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I wish Apple would release more special edition products in other markets as well. Special Apple cases or iPhone colors, or graphics
Maybe they could add new stickers for that purpose. Ones you could design yourself and only costs you $ 99,99.
 
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I don't see how a $68.00 USD discount is going to help turn around iPhone sales.


Sales of foreign phone brands in China plunged in November, according to official data released Friday, underscoring further pressure on Apple, the biggest international handset vendor in the country.

In November, foreign mobile phone shipments in China stood at 3.04 million units, according to CNBC calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT.

That’s a fall of 47.4% from November 2023, and a 51% drop from October last year.


CAICT does not break down figures for individual brands, however Apple accounts for the majority of foreign mobile phone shipments in China with competitors like Samsung forming only a tiny part of the market.


I predict another trip to China for Tim Cook in the very near future.
Apple just planned a bigger innovation lab in China. Meaning all their device “innovations” will show up a year before Apple is able to get it to market if not later.

Apple is having their Nokia moment in China if you ask me.
 
Wow, Apple sure has started the year off with a bang. We're only three days into the year and Apple has already released an ALL NEW product, the ALL NEW AirPods 4. The pipeline must be incredible to be able to release ALL NEW products at this pace!
 
Wow, Apple sure has started the year off with a bang. We're only three days into the year and Apple has already released an ALL NEW product, the ALL NEW AirPods 4. The pipeline must be incredible to be able to release ALL NEW products at this pace!

You seem to be confusing limited edition with ALL NEW.
 
Wish it's available to purchase in the States. I don't mind adding the one with a USB-C charging case in backpack.
 
Apple needs to rethink the choice of engraved icons for AirTags. Currently, there are no icons available for a backpack, a bike, and a coat, even though these items are in Apple's list of suggested items to tag. On the other hand, there are icons for items nobody would tag, like a house, or items impractical to tag, like a video game controller, a camera, and binoculars. Even more importantly, Apple needs to offer the AirTags (and AirPods) in several colors so that they're easier to tell apart, for example between family members.
 
Apple needs to rethink the choice of engraved icons for AirTags. Currently, there are no icons available for a backpack, a bike, and a coat, even though these items are in Apple's list of suggested items to tag. On the other hand, there are icons for items nobody would tag, like a house, or items impractical to tag, like a video game controller, a camera, and binoculars. Even more importantly, Apple needs to offer the AirTags (and AirPods) in several colors so that they're easier to tell apart, for example between family members.
On mine, I had the monkey, bear, capital letter, and some blanks. Comes in color may be nice yet easy for catching attention.
 
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