PYMNTS Daily Data Dive: Apple Aces It With AirPods

Despite an outcry when Apple announced that it would nix the headphone jack in the new iPhone 7, it appears that the company may have known what it was doing. Consumers seem to be more enthralled with the wireless earbuds than they are with the Apple Watch Series 2.

A survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed that consumers are keen to buy Apple AirPods and that Apple could see sizable revenue from the new product that was unveiled with the launch of the new iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. The AirPods can be controlled by Siri, Apple’s digital personal assistant, and industry experts think they will become much more than a tool for listening to music as Siri becomes more intelligent and sophisticated. The AirPods can pause a song on an Apple device by double-tapping either headphone or simply by asking Siri. Removing the AirPods from a user’s ears also pauses the playback function. The AirPods are likened to Amazon’s Echo but in a form that is easier to carry around.

Here is the data:

$3 billion | The amount that Apple could see in revenue from AirPod sales, estimated by Bank of America Merrill Lynch

$159 | The cost of the wireless AirPods

40% | The number of respondents who think that AirPods are too expensive

12% | The number of survey respondents who are keen to buy Apple’s AirPods

8% | The percentage of survey respondents who would prefer the Apple Watch Series 2 over AirPods