Apple has stopped selling third-party audio products from brands like Bose, Sonos, as well as Logitech. The stocks have dried up on the online store and physical stores have also been asked to purge all remaining inventory.

The speakers and headphones division on the store displayed only Apple products, while all competing brands were off-the-shelf. The Cupertino giant has stocked its stores with third-party accessories like headphones, speakers, and more to compliment its gadgets like the iPhone, Mac, and even the now-defunct iPod.

Furthermore, the giant worked with these third-party makers to closely integrate the accessory with proprietary technology like Apple AirPlay. Now, the brand is opting for a new way to leverage its position and improve sale of in-house products.

Apple makes a host of audio products under the Beats brand, which it acquired in 2014. It also has the AirPods and HomePod speakers that are relatively new in the catalogue.

According to reports, Apple is working on a high-end set of over-ear headphones that will carry its own brand. They could be dubbed the AirPods Studio and we expect it to launch before the end of this year.

This isn’t the first time the company has kick-out third-party products to favor its own. Before the Apple Watch launched, Apple removed all third-party fitness tracker offerings from its store.

Out of the affected brands, Bose is the worst hit because it doens’t have rival stores to directly sell its products and relies on Apple’s distribution. Obviously, it has a presence in other physical and online stores like BestBuy or Amazon, but the prime spot in an Apple Store is lost. However, other accessories like a keyboard are still available from Logitech. Only the audio section is affected right now.

Source: Bloomberg