Apple's New AirPods Max Won't Arrive In Time For Holiday Season: Bloomberg

Apple Inc's APPL latest introduction of over-the-ear wireless headphones, AirPods Max, won't arrive in time for the holiday season, Bloomberg reports.

What Happened: The long-awaited Apple's wearable device costs $549 and boasts a battery life of up to 20 hours and comes in five colors. 

Apple said that pre-orders for AirPods Max start today with availability beginning Tuesday, Dec. 15. However, many customers placing orders see wait time of 12-14 weeks, representing the most prolonged shipping delays for an Apple product in recent history, Bloomberg noted.

For customers in China, Canada, Japan, and Germany — wait times for many colors are as long as January to February. Australia and France will have some models delivered by December.

Customers in the U.K. see a wait time of 14 weeks for the blue version and up to three weeks for other colors.

Wait time for deliveries with the free engraving option go down by two to three weeks for some colors but move down by six weeks in Japan.

Why It Matters: Apple aimed to lure the holiday shoppers by introducing the product in December, but shipping delays have dampened the iPhone maker's plans.

According to Bloomberg, this is the second hit for the iPhone maker as it had planned to launch the AirPods Max in the fall, but some testers found the headband too tight led to a delayed launch.

Re-sellers on eBay Inc EBAY are demanding huge premiums with many listings going from $849 to $1,199 with "guaranteed delivery [before] Christmas."

Apple's wearables, home, and accessories segment reported 20.8% year-over-year growth in the fourth-quarter revenue of $7.88 billion.

Price Action: AAPL shares closed 0.51% higher at $124.38 on Tuesday.

Photo — courtesy of Apple.