Apple AirPods is a breakthrough product that is popular among users of all ages, including kids. However, kids have found one smart use of the product that Apple would have never thought of. A recent video making the rounds on the internet shows that students are swapping AirPods to talk in class without getting caught.
Swapping AirPods to talk in class
When we were kids, many of us would have exchanges handwritten notes to talk in class secretly. Now, thanks to technology, kids have come up with innovative ways to talk to each other in class without getting caught. One such way is swapping AirPods to talk in class.
Kids are swapping AirPods in class then using text to speech to ‘talk’ without talking ??? pic.twitter.com/moLxK1rzbv
— Louis Anslow ✪ (@LouisAnslow) 21 January 2020
In the video, two students are seen using AirPods and text-to-speech to communicate with each other. Talking of how it works, the two students exchange one side of their AirPods with each other. They then type a message on their phone and text-to-speech it.
As a result, the other student wearing the other earbud will be able to hear what the first one is texting. In the video, the students are seen using Google Translate. However, the tech would work with any app that supports text-to-speech.
It is not very clear how efficient this method of chatting is as you always have the option to just send a text message anyway. Nevertheless, swapping AirPods to talk in class is a unique way to chat that could have other better uses as well.
AirPods sale numbers no more a secret
Apple first came out with the AirPods in December 2016. The AirPods have been selling well, but how well is something that no one had any idea about as Apple has not revealed its sales figures.
Now, a report from Strategy Analytics claims that Apple sold about 60 million AirPods in 2019. Further, the research firm noted that AirPods sales accounted for 71% of the revenue from that particular market.
Strategy Analytics also claims that Apple is expected to dominate the market for the next five years.
“Even as other vendors enter the TWS [totally wireless] segment, Apple will remain the dominant vendor in the category through the middle of the next decade,” Strategy Analytics said.
Such claims may come as a surprise to many considering when Apple first came out with the AirPods, not many thought highly of the product. Now, the AirPods have become a must-have accessory for the iPhone owners. In fact, Apple is way ahead of the competitors in this segment with Samsung and Xiaomi at second and third place respectively, having less than 10% market share each.
“Apple’s lead isn’t surprising since it created the category,” Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics said, adding, “it’s unlikely that any single vendor will replace Apple at the top in terms of volume or revenue in TWS Bluetooth headphones in the foreseeable future.”
AirPods: next big thing for Apple?
Separately, a report from analyst Kevin Rooke suggests that revenue from AirPods is greater than Spotify, Twitter, Snapchat and Shopify combined. The analysts, who used several sources, claim that AirPods revenue last year was at $12 billion, or about 4.5% of Apple’s total sales.
This, according to the analyst, represents an increase of 128% over 2018, when the revenue was reportedly at $5.25 billion. The 2018 revenue was an increase of 133% over 2017, which according to the analyst, was at $2.25 billion.
Based on the revenue growth figures, the analyst claims that AirPods revenue in 2020 would exceed that of Uber. Rooke based his growth forecast on total iPhone user base. As per the analyst, the total installed user base of iPhones is around 900 million, but only 100 million AirPods have been sold so far.
“Imagine a startup with $12 billion of revenue, 125%+ YoY revenue growth (two years in a row), and Apple-esque gross margins (30-50%). Without knowing anything else about the business, what would you value it at? $50 billion? $100 billion? More? That’s Apple’s AirPods business, the fastest-growing segment of the world’s most valuable company,” the analyst says.
In all, Rooke believes that AirPods could be the next big hit for Apple.
