Apple Inc., in an unprecedented retreat, canceled its highly anticipated AirPower wireless charging mat and apologized to customers who were waiting for it.

The device, designed to charge an Apple Watch, iPhone and AirPods all at once, was originally announced alongside the iPhone X in September 2017. At the time, Apple said it would go on sale in 2018. While the accessory isn’t as crucial to Apple’s bottom line as an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, the decision to cancel an announced product is an embarrassing and rare move for the Cupertino, California-based technology giant.

“After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have canceled the project,” Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware, said in a statement. "We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward."

Apple didn’t say why exactly the product was canceled, but people familiar with its development told Bloomberg News last year that the company faced challenges with the software, overheating and the ability to charge multiple devices on any spot on the mat.

When he announced the product in 2017, Apple senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller said the charging system was "not possible with current standards" but that Apple’s "team knows how to do this."

The cancellation of a device is the first in Apple’s modern era under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, and it represents the second misstep this week for the company’s hardware engineering group. The company earlier apologized after customer complaints about the keyboards on its latest laptops. The company also has delayed multiple other accessories under Cook’s leadership, including the original AirPods and HomePod speaker.

Bloomberg

BDST: 1418 HRS, MAR 30, 2019
SI