beats: Apple discontinues this 7-year-old audio device – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Apple has discontinued the Beats Pill Plus Bluetooth speaker. According to 9to5Mac, the speaker is no longer available on the Beats and Apple websites for purchase.
Beats Pill Plus Bluetooth speaker was first announced in the year 2015 for $229. Apple sold it in-store and online for $179.95 recently. While it is completely scrubbed from Beats and Apple websites, it is still available for purchase from select third-party retailers.
Apple, over the years, did not update the Beats Pill+ speaker following its release. However, it did update it with new colour options over the years. Interestingly, the Beats line does not include any speaker option now. It now focuses on headphones only. Recently, Apple introduced a new limited edition of its Beats Studio Buds wireless earphones to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Asian countries like China.
The only speaker sold by Apple at present is the HomePod mini. At the Apple Unleashed event in 2021, Apple introduced three new colour variants of the HomePod mini. The device is now offered in four colour options- white, yellow, orange, and blue.
HomePod mini is tipped for broader expansion in other countries this year. The smart speaker from Apple could debut in more European countries including Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Russia. According to a report by Teknivecka, the Cupertino-based company has been testing the HomePod mini in Sweden.
In addition to Sweden, the HomePod mini is said to launch in at least four more countries in 2022. Apple HomePod mini smart speaker has already gained support for languages spoken in those countries with a software update in December 2021. These languages are: Dutch, Dutch (Belgium) (Referred to as Flemish by Apple), French (Belgium), French (Switzerland), German (Switzerland), Italian (Switzerland) and Russian.