Spot the failed products of Apple

iPod touch

In the Steve Jobs era, the iPod made a huge contribution to Apple, helping to beat CDs and usher in a new era of digital music on mobile devices. Since the iPhone 4, the iPod began to decline, and instead, Apple introduced an all-new iPod touch, which many called the “non-calling iPhone” at the time.

Due to the overlap of functions from the iPhone, the position of the iPod touch seems ambiguous, and the large screen market is firmly dominated by the iPad line, which makes the iPod touch underperform. In mid-2019, Apple quietly released the 7th-generation iPod touch, but users quickly realized it was just an old version of the iPod touch with a slight upgrade in configuration.

At that time, this was still considered an outdated product of the times. Two years later, the iPod touch has become the cheapest product on Apple’s official website, and it may soon be phased out.

HomePod

HomePod is also a very failed product under Apple, in March this year, Apple publicly confirmed to stop producing HomePod to focus on the HomePod mini line launched last year.

Initially Apple was hoping the HomePod could take a big advantage with great sound quality. The $ 349 price tag, however, made HomePod sales bleak and lost market share by Amazon’s Echo lineup and Google’s smart speakers. Finally, Apple has also confirmed the liquidation of the HomePod.

Obviously, the main factor limiting HomePod sales is not the “smart” slot but the price. In the early days of launch, HomePod’s price was $ 349, then dropped to $ 299 in April 2019. Meanwhile, the HomePod mini is a pretty attractive product with outstanding sound quality at only $ 99.

Smart case

Among many iPhone models, Apple has released smart cases specifically for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 11 series. Unfortunately, many users are not even aware of the existence of this product. Not only does it lose the aesthetics, but the price of these smart cases is too high, up to 152 USD, higher than the HomePod mini.

Although Apple claims this case can increase the battery life of the iPhone by up to 50%. The problem is that every time the iPhone is charged, the user will also have to charge the case, which inadvertently causes the normal charging process to be prolonged. Therefore, many people choose to equip additional power banks if needed, because the power bank not only has a larger capacity but also supports fast charging and the price is also much cheaper.

EarPods Lightning

Apple has removed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7, and the EarPods line has also changed to a Lightning jack instead of 3.5mm. This move has met with complaints from users because the headphones will not work while the iPhone is charging. While the iPhone 7 does not support wireless charging, listening to music while charging became impossible for the “Apple” followers at that time.

Perhaps Apple saw this deadly flaw, or was a new business strategy, so the AirPods were quick to launch. Although the price is quite high, but it solves the problem of the user, which is also a fatal blow for EarPods Lightning. Therefore, the gradual disappearance of EarPods Lightning is also quite understandable.

With the iPhone 12 line launched last year, Apple has officially dropped the EarPods Lightning included in the box. In part, because users are no longer interested in this product, on the other hand, it is to minimize costs and ensure the environment as what Apple has said.