Apple Launches Special Edition Ox-Themed AirPods Pro in China for Chinese New Year

Wednesday January 6, 2021 5:35 pm PST by Juli Clover

In celebration of Chinese New Year, Apple today launched a special edition version of the AirPods Pro that feature an Ox icon, as 2021 is the Year of the Ox.

chinese new year ox airpods
The AirPods Pro, which are priced at RMB 1,999, are identical to standard AirPods Pro but feature an ox engraved on the charging case. They also ship in a box that has the same ox icon on it.

In addition to launching new AirPods Pro for Chinese New Year, Apple has a special Chinese New Year gift guide on its website in China, recommending gifts that include iPhone 12 models, MagSafe accessories, the special edition AirPods, Apple Watch, M1 Macs, iPads, and more.

Apple unveiled the new AirPods Pro on WeChat. "Here comes a box of blessings for the Year of the Ox," reads the translated announcement, which is also accompanied by several ox-themed graphics and an Apple Music playlist with songs for the new year. In 2021, Chinese New Year will begin on Friday, February 12, 2021.

Apple says that the ox-themed AirPods Pro are in short supply, with a total of 25,400 available. 11,480 of those will be sold in retail stores, while 13,920 are available for purchase online.

Tag: China

Popular Stories

Apple Begins Testing Controversial Chinese Memory Chips

Wednesday July 8, 2026 7:18 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple is testing DRAM memory chips from China's state-backed ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), according to a new report from the Financial Times. Last week, it emerged that Apple was in discussions with CXMT and fellow Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) about sourcing memory, with no deal finalized. The new details suggest Apple has since progressed to qualifying CXMT's ...

• 84 comments

iPhone 17 Pricing Helped Apple Buck China's Q2 Smartphone Decline

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:26 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Apple grew iPhone shipments in China by 24.4 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2026, making it the fastest-growing smartphone brand in a market that shrank overall, according to preliminary figures released today by research firm IDC. Total shipments in China fell 4.3 percent to roughly 66 million units, amounting to a fifth consecutive quarter of decline. Apple and Huawei were ...

• 27 comments

Apple Intelligence Finally Cleared to Launch in China

Wednesday July 15, 2026 4:25 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple Intelligence has been approved by Chinese regulators, opening the door for the AI system to reach iPhones in the country for the first time. Reuters reports that China's Cyberspace Administration registered Apple's on-device generative AI service this week, putting it on a list of newly cleared providers that also includes homegrown systems from Chinese phone makers. An unnamed...

• 32 comments

Top Rated Comments

Erehy Dobon

73 months ago

I, for one, can't support any particular support of Chinese culture over any other culture. Why is this special?

Speaking from the stance of market(s) -

"According to November data from Counterpoint Research, Apple had just 8 percent of the market share in China during the third quarter of 2019, down from 9 percent during the same time period in 2018. Huawei is the market leader with a 40 percent share, trailed by Vivo, Oppo and Xiomi"

As an AAPL holder since 1999, I don't really care about this. I do care about market diversification - manufacturing efficiencies, and an edge over competitors in emergent markets and unrealized spaces. This, to me, looks like some kind of appeasement. Does the combined tax+labour offset in China really impact your COG to such an extent that China, your *minority* market gets special and highly unique branding?
...

5) wtf.

This is borderline jingoistic hypocrisy.

First of all, China is Apple's largest market by revenue and has been for over ten years. It's not important for Apple to be the dominant brand in any specific market, they just want to be the dominant brand at the high end, where the lion's share of the profits are. This includes the United States of America and every other industrialized nation (UK, France, Germany, Japan, etc.).

You claim to be an AAPL shareholder since 1999 [sic] and yet you don't seem to realize that most of Apple's phone handset competitors ship the majority of their volume in dumbphones (a.k.a. "feature phones") and low-end smartphones, often at a loss.

Second, by your criteria Apple should ditch all regionally specific promotional activity. That would meaning dumping Black Friday sales in Western countries.

Remember that southeast Asian countries don't recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This includes Japan (which gets the Lucky Bag promotion) and China (which get this type of lunar new year promotion).

Why should Western nations get Christian-themed promotions and shut out the rest of non-Christian world (which happens to have a majority in population)?

And what about back-to-school promotions? Not every country starts the school year in the fall (August-September-October).

Please feel free to expound on your reasoning why regional Apple sales divisions can't use some of their discretionary promotional budget in an appropriate and timely manner to increase sales.

Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)

JCoe13

73 months ago

This is nice and all but... why is there an ox coming out of the ox?

Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ian87w

73 months ago

I, for one, can't support any particular support of Chinese culture over any other culture. Why is this special?

There are roughly 50 million ethnic Chinese people living outside China/HK/Taiwan, and many of them are not even citizens of PRC nor born in China. So let's be clear first that Chinese culture != CCP/PRC.

Besides, how is this different than Apple releasing pride watch band or celebrating black history month?

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)