No doubt this step was part of the product roadmap but with this functionality extension Apple has effectively “officially” entered a new product category.
The steps:
- tiny headphones for phone users and audiophiles (without extreme sound quality demands).
- adding active noise cancellation.
- unofficial unregulated (thus not reimbursable) aid function with conversation boost.
- now, regulator approved, likely reimbursable, easy to use, thus will be used, inexpensive, high quality, hearing aids.
If they are adequate to your needs, i.e. not moderate to profound hearing loss, they are a win-win-win for:
- user: cheap, easy (test, set up, use, charge, find), effective, cool (are they aids or ear phones?)
- insurer: cheap to test for, buy.
- Apple: ready to own the mild to moderate loss market.
Everybody was like “Tim is sleeping” but he wasn’t, he was sneaking up on everybody with hearing aids.
Same thing will happen with Watch when:
- hypertension feature hits.
- glucose feature hits.
- real-time adjustment of CPAP and O2 metering based on BT input from watch to these devices.
- at some point the Watch will facilitate real time insulin metering. Instead of strapping in a monitoring patch, users will adhere on a glucose dispenser and the watch will control micro dosing.
Such step-change extensions of existing platforms IS category extension.
Intel was famous for its tick tock product roadmap. Apple has done this with iPhone with alternating year S model upgrades.
But on the roadmap side, Apple has a tick tick tick TOCK! kind of strategy made up of a number of incremental (Kaizen philosophy) tick improvements culminating in a TOCK! step-change category extension.
I don’t think most folks recognize this is going on in plain sight because of the time scale people just don’t perceive it.
It’s like watching an apple tree grow. It gets bigger and bigger, then “suddenly” there are apples on it but the process is so gradual most don’t perceive it.
They only know the apples are ready when they hear the cider mill is open (reports of keynote step change announcements).