It’s Shortsighted for Apple to Discontinue AirPort Products

On April 27, it was reported that Apple is discontinuing its AirPort base station products. They’ll be available only while supplies last.

[Apple Discontinuing AirPort Base Station Line is No Surprise ]

 

Apple calls it quits. Why?

The question is, is this a mistake by Apple? At first glance, it appears so. I saw two good articles that argue for this being a strategic error by Apple.

• ZDNet: “Apple makes yet another short-sighted decision.“


• 9to5Mac: “Apple’s decision to discontinue AirPort products is the wrong decision at the wrong time.“

The first article is more strategic in its view. Apple needs a cornerstone product for all its home infrastructure: Macs, iPads, iPhones, Apple TV and HomePod. And home automation. The second by Ben Lovejoy gets into specifics. He provides six counter-arguments to Apple’s decision. All are sound, but #3 hits home.

Third, we live in an age when security has to be a concern for everyone. A no-brand router made in China with unknown firmware is a risk, especially in the age of smart homes. A rogue router potentially has the ability to allow access to everything from your heating system to your front door lock. With Apple firmware, we can be pretty confident it’s secure.

All that said, one has to ask why a competent company like Apple would make such a decision. Surely, we cannot claim that Apple is mistake-prone. (But Apple does make mistakes.) Secondly, we cannot suggest that Apple “lost interest.” Individuals lose interest. Companies lose their vision.

Clearly, Apple made this decision because it believes that this market is no longer in its strategic and financial interests. That could be for several reasons. Perhaps, the ISPs are subsuming the home integrated router-wi-fi-base station market. (And yet, ISPs allow customers to install their own equipment.) Perhaps Apple didn’t want to engage in the mesh Wi-Fi market thanks to patent or licensing issues. Perhaps AirPort sales were declining. Apple invests in growing, not shrinking markets.

Neglected Markets Deteriorate

On the other hand, the fact that Apple allowed its position in this market to deteriorate in the first place suggests that the product manager didn’t have the authority to develop and market an evolving vision of what Apple should be doing in the home to marry advanced Wi-Fi technologies with its own wireless products. Or perhaps the vision was there and it foresaw a new, emerging technology, such as 5G, that would more or less eliminate the need for home Wi-Fi. That’s debatable.

Often, an enduring vision makes a case for future opportunities. Somewhere, along the way, someone at Apple failed to make the case to the executive team that home users, going forward, need the ease-of-use, security, and quality of an Apple router/Wi-fi base station. And the resulting conclusion was that ensuring Apple’s place in the secure, integrated home ecosystem, in this regard, is no longer important.

That’s something to ponder. Right now, from what I’m seeing, that’s a mistake because customers want to place their communications trust in Apple, and this company, now and down the road, can take that to the bank.

Next Page: The News Debris for the week of April 23rd. Amazon’s obsession with our homes.

Page 2 – News Debris For The Week of April 23rd

Amazon’s Obsession

Smart speakers are growing in popularity, according to Business Insider. They’re now in 20 percent of all homes. And yet, it’s been widely reported that Apple’s HomePod isn’t selling all that well. “Apple cuts HomePod orders by more than half.” This suggests that Amazon is doing a more convincing job than Apple at developing customer-focused home AIs.

Amazon’s Alexa beat out Apple’s HomeKit as Jeff Gamet’s smart home controller

Another article, also by Luke Dormehl at Cult of Mac argues this point exactly. “Amazon is (apparently) doing more than Apple to improve society.”

One can almost begin to see a pattern here. Apple has a different vision than Amazon. Amazon’s vision emerges victorious because customers are ignoring Apple’s low-key emphasis on privacy and security. Without a clear home strategy on privacy, Amazon customers are opting for the coolness and convenience of Echo/Alexa products. Buoyed by customer embrace, Amazon keeps rolling out new variants.

[Amazon’s New Echo Dot Kids Edition Could be Your Child’s Best Friend ]

On the entertainment side, Amazon is folding its Fire TV into its own branded 4K/UHD TV sets. Its just seems like Amazon is unstoppable in its efforts to psychologically overwhelm consumers and rope them into a different, more compelling ecosystem.

[Will Amazon’s Fire TV Edition Do What Apple Could Not? ]

And now we have some additional whetting of the appetite. “Amazon is teasing a mysterious new device called the Fire TV Cube on its website.” It’s the Amazon version of Apple’s “Oh, one more thing.”

Clearly, Amazon is obsessed with getting into our homes (and cars) by any means possible while Apple stands back and claims no interest in our personal affairs. Without a compelling counter. Here’s a good explanation that puts the icing on this segment’s cake.

• Why Amazon is obsessed with getting inside our homes.

That about sums it up. Pretty soon, little, friendly Amazon robots will be wandering around our homes, peering into everything. (“Need more condoms?”)

[Amazon’s Vesta Project Means it’s Time For Apple to Step Up its Robot Game ]

All this is happening like a giant avalanche. It can’t be stopped. Few customers seem to have developed home security policies that will negate the growth of these products. The final question: What can Apple do about it before Amazon makes products from Apple irrelevant as we get deeper into the 21st century?

The beachhead is being secured by Amazon. Is it time to fight back yet?

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Particle Debris is a generally a mix of John Martellaro’s observations and opinions about a standout event or article of the week (preamble on page one) followed on page two by a discussion of articles that didn’t make the TMO headlines, the technical news debris. The column is published most every Friday except for holiday weeks.

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