Did Apple change the use of material for the cable/cord on EarPods?

Hi all

I just purchased 3 new boxes of Apple EarPods for my iPhone 5. I purchased them off eBay as ORIGINAL Apple EarPods.

Everything about them looks as it should

- they are resistant to remove from the box as they should

- they seem to have the built quality you would expect

- the Apple logo on the back of the box has a mat finish

- has the "Design by Apple in California.. etc" on the main cord

- the grills looks solid as you would expect

The only reason why i am doubting whether these are original EarPods from Apple, is that the cord material seems to be more plastic like and harder, compared to the ones that came with my iPhone that seems to have a rubber kind of feel to it.

The difference and effect of this, is also that the cable seems to tangle more and keep its "beant" shape from when it was wrangled in the box, whereas the ones that came with the iPhone, is alot more smooth and "straight" due to the rubber feel to the cord - e.g. it straightens out perfectly with the rubber material, where the plastic material is more curly..

Would greatly appreciate if someone could reveal what im looking at, and if Apple actually changed the cord material to what seems to be subpar to the ones that came with my iPhone purchase.

Thanks.

Philip