How to Capitalize on the Airpods Business

<em>(Multiple Sources, including&nbsp;</em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?notrack=1&amp;s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&amp;i=36A73A2A278" target="_blank"><em>Bloomberg</em></a><em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thehustle62422.acemlnb.com/lt.php?notrack=1&amp;s=464883b9eb98efcb30e66001092f3634&amp;i=36A73A2A279" target="_blank"><em>CNBC</em></a><em>)</em>

The Signal: After killing the headphone jack, Apple graced the world with Airpods 3 years ago. Since then, the airpods business has quickly scaled to an estimated 60m sales in 2019, and over 100m since inception.

Assuming the original $159 price point, that would be $9.5B in revenue. Other analysts estimate this number to be closer to $12B due to the price point of Airpods Pro ($249). That means Airpods brought in more revenue than Twitter, Spotify, and Shopify, to name a few.

If the Airpods business was its own company, with $10B in annual revenue, they would be slightly larger than News Corp., a global media brand, according to this list of the world’s largest companies.

The opportunity: The hockey stick growth continues. In 2020, sales are expected to scale to 85m units, with room to grow across the 900m people using an iPhone. But unless you’re Samsung or Google, it’s unlikely that you’re going to develop the next Airpod. Instead, you can augment the already impressive market.

A few areas to pounce:

• Track Apple patent filings on emerging tech to get a sense of what the "next Airpods" might be. Or, follow Jeff Morris Jr. (@JMJ) who goes through them for you. His latest hints include Project Titan, smart glasses, and audio devices with orientation.
• With the size of the Airpods’ user base, some people predict Apple could open up SiriOS. Startups like TTYL, BRB, vIM 2, Yac Chat, and Airtalk are taking note.
• The birth of the iPhone spawned a flood of iPhone accessories, from cases to rings. The same is true with Airpods. Away Kit placed #2 on Product Hunt last month with an Airpod Cleaning Kit (essentially $25 for some putty and wipes), and had to delay shipping due to such high demand. Other things Apple adopters are searching for:

(Source: Google Trends and Keywords Everywhere)