Taiwan Issues Arrest Warrant for OnePlus CEO Over Alleged Illegal Recruitment Activities 
TSMC Set to Post Record Q4 Profit as AI Chip Demand Accelerates 
South Korea Sees Limited Impact From New U.S. Tariffs on Advanced AI Chips 
U.S.–Taiwan Trade Deal Spurs $500 Billion Semiconductor Investment in America 
Federal Judge Clears Way for Jury Trial in Elon Musk’s Fraud Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft 
Trump Considers Starlink to Restore Internet Access in Iran Amid Protests 
U.S. Lawmakers Raise Alarm Over Trump Approval of Nvidia AI Chip Sales to China 
Anthropic Launches HIPAA-Compliant Healthcare Tools for Claude AI Amid Growing Competition 
SK Hynix to Invest $13 Billion in Advanced Chip Packaging Plant as AI Memory Demand Surges 
Anthropic Appoints Former Microsoft Executive Irina Ghose to Lead India Expansion 
Zhipu AI Launches GLM-Image Model Trained on Huawei Chips, Boosting China’s AI Self-Reliance Drive 
Alphabet Stock Poised for Growth as Bank of America Sees Strong AI Momentum Into 2026 
Elon Musk Seeks $134 Billion in Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft Over Alleged Wrongful Gains 
China Halts Shipments of Nvidia H200 AI Chips, Forcing Suppliers to Pause Production 
TSMC Shares Hit Record High as AI Chip Demand Fuels Strong Q4 Earnings 
Trump Administration Approves Nvidia H200 AI Chip Sales to China Under New Export Rules 
Apple’s truly wireless earbuds became one of its top-selling products, especially following the release of the AirPods Pro in late 2019. The demands are so high that Apple seems to have not totally caught up on it yet in terms of shipments. Additionally, tech companies with most of their suppliers and assemblers situated in China also have to deal with the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak on the industry.
AirPods: Apple wants to ‘drastically ramp up’ the production of truly wireless earbuds
Apple is, technically, not the first company to introduce the concept of a headset without any cord. It can be said, however, that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant was what made this category a worldwide phenomenon. So it is not surprising that Apple is also one of the leaders when it comes to selling truly wireless earbuds.
Nikkei reports that Apple has placed an order of 45 million units of AirPods to its Chinese manufacturers to be reportedly shipped within the first half of the year. Sources of the publication claimed that there has not been a new shipment of AirPods for the past two weeks. But things are expected to change as Chinese manufacturers are purportedly scheduled to resume operations on Monday, Feb. 10.
The same sources pointed out, however, that Apple’s China-based assemblers are not expected to immediately return to its full capacity. They are eyed to produce just 50 percent of their normal yield within the first week. Insiders are also concerned if the parts suppliers would be able to keep up with the manufacturers’ return to work next week.
AirPods supplies: Delivery option is available on Apple.com but with a 4-week waiting period
It can be recalled that there was quite a difficulty in finding a pair of AirPods Pro last holiday season. For weeks, tech fans were greeted with messages that the device was temporarily out of stock even on the official Apple website.
That is still partially the case now in February. United States customers, depending on their location, still have to check if Apple store locations have AirPods supplies while the delivery option is available with a four-week waiting period. Third-party retailers like Amazon has yet to restock on AirPods Pro while the second-generation AirPods are available with a $20 discount.
