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Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

kevinrooke.com

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Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#21

Post by paxys »

As always, none of the numbers are official, so take all of them with a huge grain of salt. The article also doesn't link to a single source, not even an unofficial one.

> Assuming an even split of sales between Gen 1, Gen 2, and AirPods Pro, Airpods revenue was $12 billion in 2019

This itself is a terrible assumption. AirPods Pro launched in November 2019, so had just 2 months of sales. Even otherwise, there is never an even split between the lower and higher priced versions of any product, especially when the higher one costs nearly double.

Another source (https://hypebeast.com/2019/12/apple-airpods-stats-third-larg...) estimates the sales at $6 billion, half of what the parent article says.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#22

Post by Kylekramer »

I've idly thought that Spotify should get into hardware. Headphones and/or speaker, purchase it connected to your account, and one touch button to a stream of music you like.

Obviously a million times easier said than done, but has to be a better margin business than where they currently are and would be good lock in.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#24

Post by skyyler »

jackhalford wrote: post #17

I have a pair of Airpods. What bugs me most is that le lithium battery is not replaceable, and will degrade after a couple years. which makes these a high-end throwaway device...

That doesn't differ from their other offerings...

Their laptops and phones do not have replaceable batteries, why would their headphones?

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#25

Post by dsalzman »

Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc. With the kicker that it is only stored locally and securely on your device, all processing done locally via HealthKit. That customized data will change how we think about patient care.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#27

Post by inetknght »

cycrutchfield wrote: post #23
jackhalford wrote: post #17

I have a pair of Airpods. What bugs me most is that le lithium battery is not replaceable, and will degrade after a couple years. which makes these a high-end throwaway device...

As opposed to the phone itself?

Once upon a day, phones had replaceable batteries. I'm still holding on to my ancient phone specifically because of that.

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#28

Post by jimmyspice »

Waterluvian wrote: post #11
typon wrote: post #8

Wish there was a way for public investors to invest in certain parts of a publicly traded company. If I believe in a certain project at Apple or Google, I want to fund it and get returns on my investment.

Isn't that cart before the horse? The concept of investing is taking a risk. If you want to invest in only successful products after they're developed, there's no wealth delta to be a part of.

I think they're getting at a model either like Kickstarter, or directly funding a department ( say Google's AR department, if you liked their Glass idea ). The problem with a normal investment and no seats on the board is that you don't really have a say on direction provided that a company does more than one thing. there's also the fact that money is fungible and would probably just subsidise loss making departments as is common today

Re: Apple AirPods: iPhone accessory or the next big thing?

#30

Post by basch »

dsalzman wrote: post #25

Airpods are an integral part of Apple's future medical ambition. Always in ear Airpods constantly taking your Temp, HR, Glucose, GSR, etc. With the kicker that it is only stored locally and securely on your device, all processing done locally via HealthKit. That customized data will change how we think about patient care.

>With the kicker that it is only stored locally

Do you think most people would want to lose all their data if they lose their device?

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