Apple to release AirPods 2 with ‘health monitoring functions’ in first half of this year

“Rapid growth in demand seen over the past two years for wearable devices including smartwatches and wireless headsets will carry into 2019, serving as a significant growth driver for shipments of both flexible and rigid-flex PCBs in the year, according to industry sources,” Jay Liu and Willis Ke report for DigiTimes. “Bolstered by strong year-end buying sentiment in 2018, Apple saw its revenues from Apple Watch and AirPods during promotion campaigns shoot up 50% on year from 2017, demonstrating great sales potentials for wearable devices in 2019, the sources said.”
“Apple is set to release AirPods 2 sometime in the first half of 2019, and the new wireless earbuds with discrete designs to carry health monitoring functions are expected to receive enthusiastic market responses. Other brand vendors have all planned to launch wireless headsets in the year, with market competition seen to heat up soon,” Liu and Ke report. “At the moment, Taiwan’s two leading flexible PCB suppliers Zhen Ding Tech and Flexium Interconnect mainly deliver shipments for Apple Watch and AirPods, but they will also move to land orders from other brand vendors or for other applications.
Liu and Ke report, “Meanwhile, Compeq Manufacturing and Unitech Printed Circuit Board also supply rigid-flex boards for AirPods, and they also expect other brand vendors of earbuds to bring new revenue sources in 2019.”
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MacDailyNews Take: As per AirPods with health monitoring functions, body temperature is but one thing that pops immediately to mind.