Apple has teamed up with Sonos to increase the price of its audio products, although for now it appears that the increase has only affected Beats Flex wireless headphones. Be careful though, as more price hikes are coming soon.
On the official store page in the US, UK and Australia, the Beats Flex headphones are now selling for $ 69.99 / £ 59.99 / AU $ 99.95 instead of their original price of $ 49.99 / £ 49.99 / AU $ 79.95. The increase is most likely due to parts shortages that have affected technology manufacturing since the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions became widespread in mid-2020.
We did a scan through Apple’s other audio devices and so far no other seems to have been affected at the time of writing. However, if you’ve been meaning to snag a pair of Beats or AirPods, you may want to act before other models get a similar bump.
If you’re desperate for a pair of Beats Flex headphones, you don’t need to freak out too much right now. So far, it seems that the price increase has only had an effect on Apple’s official store page, as we’ve been lucky to find the buds at their lowest price from third-party vendors.
However, you may want to act fast on any purchase as we cannot say for sure that they will stay at their cheapest price for much longer.
Analysis: why the price increase?
As we mentioned earlier, the price spike is likely due to the chip shortage that has plagued the tech industry for the past year and a half. If you’ve had trouble grabbing an Xbox Series X or PS5 gaming console (or a host of other products), you already know how annoying these supply chain issues can be.
The shortage began in 2020, when regional Covid-19 restrictions put pressure on the industry on both ends. Factories had to shut down or downsize their workforce to prevent the virus from spreading, leading to slower production rates, while increased reliance on remote work hardware and ‘in-house’ entertainment devices sent sales skyrocketing. .
This has meant that certain parts used in many devices are no longer available. It appears that Apple (and Sonos) are addressing the shortage by raising prices, most likely because component shortages have led to increased manufacturing costs.
We are not fans of price increases, especially since the devices do not have new functions; However, Apple, Sonos, and others obviously have the power to change prices however they want.
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