Apple is booting headphones from competitors like Sonos and Bose out of its stores

• Apple has stopped selling headphones and speakers from third parties including Sonos and Bose.
• Apple now only sells audio accessories which are either own-brand or Beats, which is owned by Apple.
• Bloomberg reported Apple is clearing the decks ahead of announcing new audio products.

Apple has pulled all headphones and speakers from companies including Bose, Sonos, and Logitech from both its online and physical stores.

Bloomberg first reported the news.

Headphones and speakers from rival brands disappeared from Apple's online store at the end of last month, and in Apple's physical retail locations employees have been instructed to remove products for sale over the past few days, according to Bloomberg.

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Bose confirmed to Bloomberg that Apple will no longer sell its accessories, and wireless speaker company Ultimate Ears said it had been informed by Apple that: "They will no longer carry third-party speakers at retail from September onwards."

Sonos shares fell 5% after the news broke after trading hours on Monday, but then recovered slightly to a 3% drop overall.

Apple now only sells own-brand headphones and speakers along with products from its subsidiary Beats.

Bloomberg reports one exception on its store, a conference room speaker from Pioneer that plugs into an iPhone.

Apple told Bloomberg it regularly makes changes to the products it carries in response to new third-party accessory releases and customer demand.

Bloomberg reports booting rival products signals Apple preparing to launch new audio offerings including some long-rumored over-ear headphones.

This is a tactic it has deployed before when expanding into a market, in 2014 it pulled Fitbit wearable accessories from its online store ahead of launching the Apple Watch.

Apple was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.