This means that in 2020, Apple could ship as many as 90 million units of the AirPods, a huge increase from the previous year. Now, we know that shipments does not equate to sales, but companies usually base shipments on how many units they think that they will be able to sell, where it is a balance between ensuring that products are constantly available without keeping too much inventory on hand.
Whether or not Apple will actually sell that many, maybe less or maybe even more, remains to be seen, but the rumored increase in shipments shows that the company is at the very least confident about its ability to sell AirPods.
That being said, it’s not surprising that the Apple is boosting its shipments. The AirPods have been one of the company’s best-selling accessories since it launched, where many have praised the earbuds along with its successor, the AirPods Pro. There have been rumors suggesting that there might even be an AirPods Pro Lite in the works.