Apple is going to end 2018 with a rare product launch miss

Companies, as they grow to become multi-billion-dollar entities, somehow lose their vision. They insert lots of layers of middle management between the people running the company and the people doing the work. They no longer have an inherent feel or a passion about the products. The creative people, who are the ones who care passionately, have to persuade five layers of management to do what they know is the right thing to do.

Steve Jobs

• Apple promised to launch its wireless charger, AirPower, in 2018, but it never did.
• AirPower was announced in Sept. 2017 and promised for this year, but almost all mentions of the product have been removed from Apple's website.
• AirPower would let users charge their iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch wirelessly.
• Reports suggest AirPower was overheating.

Todd Haselton | @robotodd

Published 35 Mins AgoCNBC.com

Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple launch event in the Brooklyn borough of New York, October 30, 2018. 

Apple never launched AirPower, a product it said would arrive in 2018.

If you're not familiar, Apple announced a product called "AirPower" that was supposed to let iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods owners wirelessly charge all three devices at the same time at its Sept. 2017 iPhone event. Apple said it would launch in 2018, but it never did.

It's a rare miss for Apple, which typically has a good track record of following through on product announcements.

During each of its events this year, including one in March where it announced new iPads, its developer conference in June, the annual iPhone event in September and a Mac event in October, Apple failed to mention AirPower or its status.

CNBC even tried asking Apple at the iPhone launch this September if it planned to talk about AirPower publicly, but a representative only said that the day's events were only focused on the products discussed on stage — the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR — and not other devices.