San Francisco, Jan 3 (IANS): Tech giant Apple is reportedly working on 'Airpods Lite' version to compete against cheaper wireless earbuds.

AirPods currently come in four different models, ranging from the second-generation AirPods to the advanced AirPods Max, and while they've become quite popular earphones, they're not exactly cheap.

According to Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu, the demand for AirPods is expected to drop by 2023, reports 9to5Mac.

Moreover, based on his industry sources, he claims that shipments of AirPods are expected to drop from 73 million units in 2022 to 63 million in 2023. It may be a result of "soft AirPods 3" demand in combination with the fact that Apple may not release new AirPods this year, according to the report.

Although it's unclear what exactly this product is or what features it'll have, Pu describes it as a lower-cost earbud that will compete with non-Apple products, the report added.

Last year, Apple released the second generation of its AirPods Pro which offered several upgrades, including the next generation H1 processor.

The updated model boasts improvements to audio quality while keeping the same design as its predecessor.