Apple’s AirPods range is unquestionably a worldwide cultural hit. Their popularity is born out of their legendary ease of use, ‘magical’ pairing process, great battery life and wire-free convenience. The first truly great wireless earbuds are also a victim of their own success. Everyone and their uncle in the tech world have tried (and mostly failed) to replicate their success. But it hasn’t stopped them from trying regardless.
A report from theinformation.com reveals that around 360,000 sets of copycat AirPods have been seized in the past 9 months of the current fiscal year. The street value of these products is equivalent to over $60 million! What is so significant about this is that this exceeds seizures of similar fake products for the entirety of the 2020 financial year. Clearly, the counterfeiters aren’t being put off.
I can see why companies want to replicate the success of the AirPods because quite frankly they’ve been like lightning in a bottle for the Cupertino tech giant. I think their success even took Apple by surprise. I imagine more than a few folks at Apple have been irritated by companies like Xiaomi who seem to leach off of their IP. On a personal level, it makes me angry to see companies succeed by stealing ideas and marketing them as their own. Perhaps it’s the only way folks with no original ideas of their own can get ahead. But alas this situation is unlikely to change anytime soon.
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