Why Apple Might Have Already Won 2021 With AirTag | Screen Rant
Apple's newest category of products is an iPhone accessory called AirTag and this tiny location beacon may end up having one of the biggest impacts of the year. With nearly one billion Apple devices worldwide capable of accessing the Find My network, these top-quality, yet inexpensive key, luggage, and bag trackers seem likely to dominate the U.S. market in 2021, and should eventually prove just as popular worldwide.
The AirTag may be the most well-planned and executed location beacon ever made. Part of that is due to the huge number of the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and Apple Watch Series 6 owners that comprise the Find My network. With over an eighth of the world’s population carrying devices that can anonymously ping an AirTag and send an encrypted transmission of its location back to the owner, the ease and accuracy of finding an item almost anywhere in the world is astounding.
Apple will almost certainly sell several million AirTag beacons in 2021. Sold individually for $29 or in four-packs for $99, it's a product anyone with an iPhone will find useful. A significant portion of those orders will include Apple’s AirTag accessories, even though some of them are obscenely overpriced. Beyond the massive sales that are probable, this will help to cement the Apple ecosystem even further. While an Android phone can interact with an AirTag to some degree, it can’t use Apple’s Find My network to locate an AirTag.
Just as the Apple Watch drove more iPhone sales by offering a value that the competition couldn’t match and requiring an iPhone for use, the AirTag could very well repeat this same pattern. Since Apple uses ultra-wideband (UWB) for Precision Finding, it outperforms older trackers that rely on Bluetooth. Samsung recently launched a similar UWB beacon called Galaxy SmartTag+, but it costs more and accesses a much smaller network. In effect, the AirTag is stepping into a weak market and presenting a very complete and well-thought-out, integrated solution. Just as it did with the world’s most popular watch, the Apple Watch.
Given the challenges of launching new technology during a worldwide pandemic that has led to shortages of electronics supplies, it’s hard to imagine any other company stealing Apple’s thunder this year. The tech giant has built upon a powerful finish to 2020 with record sales of the iPhone 12 and the newly invigorated Mac market buzzing with the unveiling of Apple Silicon. 2021 continues that surge of new and exciting products with the M1 iPad Pro that should reach desktop-level performance while also featuring a Mini-LED display, a refreshed M1 iMac that brings back the rainbow colors of the original, and a 4K Apple TV with a new remote and more. Although it is still early in the year, it feels like Apple might have already won 2021 with the AirTag.
Source: Apple