Analyst Ming Chi Kuo, in a recent report, has revealed Apple’s probable plans of adding health tracking features in AirPods. If Apple is able to pull this off, this will raise the competition bar against rival companies like Samsung. Kuo mentioned that Apple will also be exploring new ways to innovate and encourage people to buy future AirPods.
According to analyst Ming Chi Kuo, the sale of Apple AirPods are expected to plummet this year. The AirPods shipments from the first to the third quarter is expected to decline by 25% year over year. In the report, Kuo implicitly attributes the decline of AirPods sales to the increasing competition in the market. He mentioned, particularly, that the growing number of low price true wireless earbuds in the market is one of the reasons for the decline in AirPods shipments. Analyst Kuo also added that the Apple AirPods Max, which the company launched last year, have not really boosted the sales of AirPods.
Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing; Greg Joswiak, as at the time of the launch of AirPods Max, described the audio device as the most popular headphones in the world, beloved for their effortless setup, incredible sound quality, and iconic design. He added that the iPhone maker was bringing that magical AirPods experience to a stunning over-ear design with high-fidelity audio, with AirPods Max. He praised the new product, explaining that AirPods Max’s custom acoustic design, combined with powerful H1 chips, and advanced software enable the Pods to use computational audio to wirelessly deliver the ultimate personal listening experience. In Kuo’s report, regardless of their amazing features and design, AirPods Max have not really contributed to boosting AirPods sales.
As stated in the report, the highly competitive market will compel Apple to explore and implement new, innovative technologies on the earphones. Amongst which will include health management functions; a field which Apple has amassed a large amount of experience in with the Apple Watch.
According to Analyst Ming Chi Kuo, Apple will commence the mass production for third generation AirPods in the third quarter of 2021. The updated devices coming this year, however, are not expected to incorporate any health tracking feature. Still, it is not certain yet what kind of health features will be incorporated in the future generation of the Apple earphones.
Apple already has health tracking features on its smartwatches and we would love to see how Apple implements this on Airpods, if at all the company decides to.