Amazon AirPods rival "a bad idea," says Gene Munster of Loup Ventures



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<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Amazon (AMZN) is currently developing Alexa-compatible headsets that could compete with Apple's AirPods and come to market in the second half of 2019, according to & nbsp;a Bloomberg report& nbsp; which quotes several sources close to the subject. Gene Munster, managing director of Loup Ventures, believes however that the fact of Amazon is able to develop them. "According to a Bloomberg report citing several sources close to the topic, the market already exists in the second half of 2019. But the fact that Amazon can develop them does not mean that it should be the case, says the CEO of Wolf Ventures, Gene Munster.

"It's a bad idea for them," Munster told Yahoo Finance. "Apart from their background in consumer hardware, it's still a bad idea."

According to Munster, Amazon faces a number of hurdles by bringing its own wireless headphones onto the market, including overcoming its own unrivaled hardware background. Although the Kindle has been a huge success for Amazon since the launch of the first device in 2007, Amazon's intrusion into smartphones and tablets has been much less successful. The company's Fire Phone, an uninspiring device released in 2014 and running a version of the Android operating system, was a huge flop. The company acknowledged during its third quarter 2014 earnings call that it had a surplus of $ 83 million in non-sold devices and discontinued the phone about a year later.

The failure of Fire Phone had as much to do with its tasteless industrial design as the operating system itself: a heavily customized version of Android heavily focused on Amazon.com purchases. As a result, the Fire Phone has failed to distinguish itself from the hundreds of millions of Android devices already on the market.

Barriers to integration

<p class = "web-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The other obstacle The rival faces of the AirPods d & # 39; # 39; Amazon? Integration with a smartphone Because Apple (AAPL) is developing its own hardware and software, the company is able to create a seamless experience with its AirPods, including Bluetooth synchronization – an important reason why Apple has sold more than 25 million AirPods since their launch in December 2016. "data-reactid =" 27 "> The other obstacle faced by Amazon's AirPods Integration of smartphones Apple (AAPL) developing its own hardware and software, the company is able to create a seamless experience with its AirPods, including Bluetooth syncing – an important reason why Apple has sold 25 million AirPods since their launch in December 2016.

Amazon, however, does not have that chance. As a third-party developer, the company faces more software and hardware hurdles in order to deliver a comparable experience.

"The biggest problem is everything in orbit around the phone, and I think it's like having this mobile operating system," says Munster.

Indeed, creating a somewhat comparable experience for Amazon's headset with Alexa would be tricky and would require smartphone users to download an Alexa app to fully access the features of the smart assistant – which AirPod owners do not have. do not have to do on their iPhone. (AirPods also work with Android devices, but connectivity is not as seamless and Android owners do not have access to features like Siri.)

"I think it's unlikely people will want to do that: manage or install a separate application to run your headphones," says Munster. "Basically, there is friction there because they [Amazon] do not own the phones. This is another example of an obstacle that they must overcome to obtain consumer adoption. "

In order for Amazon to have a chance to sell a significant number of its wireless headphones, Munster says the company must do three things: provide excellent audio connectivity and seamless Bluetooth, as well as aggressive pricing for the product between $ 75 and $ 100 so to minimize sales of Apple, which its Airpod between $ 159 and $ 199.

Then, maybe, Amazon will be able to try his luck on the ground of Apple.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "More from JP:"data-reactid =" 34 ">More from JP:

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