Apple may lead auxiliary makers into new markets

Every time Apple Inc. rolls out an updated iPhone, the makers of docking stations, cases and wireless gizmos pay attention. After all, when Apple changes the iPhone, the makers of accessories have to adapt as well.

With the iPhone 7 and 7s, introduced Sept. 7 in San Francisco, it may be the accessories stealing the spotlight.

Apple is eliminating the headphone jack from its newest smartphone and replacing it with an audio system that instead connects either through the Lightning charging port or wirelessly. During its presentation, Apple executives stressed that the change allowed the company to improve audio performance and make the 7 and 7s resistant to water and dust. (That's a feature that would've been handy a couple of summer ago when I accidentally forgot to take the phone out of my pocket before I jumped in the pool.)

But perhaps even more important for Apple's revenue stream, it allows the company to introduce the AirPods: A pair of small, wireless, Bluetooth-enabled, plastic-encased earbuds, which will sell independently from the phones, at a retail price of about $160.

“It makes no sense to tether us to our mobile devices,” executive Phil Schiller said during the unveiling.

After all, they reasoned, why should we be so attached to an audio system that dates back more than 100 years?

I can see the point. Of course, I also could immediately see they're going to make a fortune selling replacement AirPods. (So did everyone else on Twitter, judging by the range of jokes that immediately began making the rounds.)

But for accessory makers, it may open new value-added product streams. No, not just replacement AirPods, but for designers and entrepreneurs who have their own decorative take on wireless headphones.

By forcing iPhone users to give up the simple earphone jack, it is taking them away from the wall of look-alike, sound-alike, inexpensive headphones sold at every discount store.

A lightning-connected headphone makes it possible to enhance audio performance and controls. There are already some similar headphones on the market that also feature noise canceling options, drawing power from the phone, rather than requiring a separate battery.

As Timothy B. Lee wrote at Vox.com: “Shifting headphones to the digital Lightning port allows most of this circuitry to move into the headphones themselves. That gives headphone designers more freedom to use high-quality audio chips that might be larger, more expensive, and consume more power. Users who care about audio quality can pay a bit more for a higher-quality sound.”

And Apple's AirPods, in addition to letting you play your music, each one must also encase a new chip, an accelerometer, antenna, batteries and the ability to let you make and take phone calls.

“It's a technical tour de force in one little pod,” Schiller said.

So consider the range of products that have been introduced in the wake of the iPhone. Maybe there are opportunities now that will follow the Airpod.

Especially if you can bring one to the market that people won't lose within two weeks.