Apple may most likely not give free earphones with iPhone 12: Report
Apple may not provide free earphones or the EarPod with iPhone 12, as per Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. Earlier, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also mentioned that Apple may stop giving EarPods altogether and now a report by
9to5Mac claims that this will help Apple drive sales of its wireless AirPods. “Our checks that likely no wired EarPods will come in the iPhone 12 box/packaging,” Ives was quoted in the report.
Ming-Chi Kuo also believes this to be the reason behind Apple deciding not to provide free EarPods. Apple may adopt this “as a means of driving demand” for AirPods, which are right now sold separately. “In addition to the need for new iPhone users to supply their own earphones, Kuo expects an uptick in AirPods shipments to be driven by an end to AirPods inventory depletion by the second half of the year, coupled with the likelihood that Apple will offer a special AirPods promotion in late 2020,” the report added.
If Apple does adopt this move, as Kuo claims, this will be the first time that Apple doesn’t include any headphones with an iPhone as since the first-gen model, Apple has included one in a box.
AirPods have been one of Apple’s most successful products. They have not only ruled the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) headphones category for the year 2019 globally, but also in India. As per a recent report from Counterpoint Research, Apple had the maximum share of the Indian hearables market with 27% in 2019. The report claims that the Cupertino-based tech giant could dominate the Indian market due to “…factors like its reputation as a pioneer, noise-cancelling feature, easy integration with Apple devices and quick charging…”
As for buyers, the price of the upcoming
iPhone 12 series cannot be expected to be lower just because Apple may not provide free EarPods. In fact, as Apple may introduce 5G connectivity, the prices are expected to be on the higher side.
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