First comes the hype, then the actual iPhone; now, the accessories
If Apple's iPhone is as successful as the pundits, early adopters, and Steven Jobs expect, it is not just Apple that stands to make big profits from its effort to redefine the mobile phone industry.
Along with the iPhone comes the iPhone accessory business, featuring products to protect, enhance and show off those $500 or $600 electronics investments.
"The iPhone is a showpiece," said Kathy Sharpe of Sharpe Partners, a marketing agency based in New York. "It is all about status and fashion. Anything that lets you show it off, you will want."
As another Apple product, the iPod, proved, the accessories market is big business. According to Richard Doherty, a principal in the Envisioneering Group, consumers typically spend half as much again on accessories as they do on the product itself. "We expect three million iPhones to be sold in the first 45 days, with an average $225 spent on accessories per unit," he said. If Apple sells 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008 as planned, that would put the value of this iPhone support system at $2.25 billion.
So it is no wonder that companies that grew fat because of iPod accessories, like Belkin, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (or DLO, recently purchased by Philips) and Griffin, are excited by the prospect of another sleek device that needs dressing up.
Applealso stands to benefit from accessories. "We want to participate in the accessories business, but not overwhelm it," said Greg Joswiak, an Apple vice president. "It's important to have lots of developers."The iPhone is in a sense another iteration of an iPod, meaning that many of the first accessories will be reworked versions of items that have already proved popular with the standalone music player, like cases, chargers, car mounting kits, FM modulators and headphones.
While the iPhone uses the same 30-pin connector as many iPods, not all accessories will work, Joswiak warned.
Those that do are designated with the logo "Works with iPhone." Noncertified accessories will open a dialogue box suggesting that the user turn off the cellphone function.
Some existing devices may not work properly because accessory makers have been hampered in their planning by the same situation that greeted consumers: most were not able to get their hands on a device until June 29, when the cellphone was first sold.
Even the largest manufacturers were given nothing more than general dimensions. Several companies got their first look at the actual phone only a few weeks ago when Apple engineers certified their products.
As a result, companies like Gomadic and RadTech have decided not to market accessories until they can get their hands on an actual product. "We've had 800 requests for information on our Sleevz case products for the iPhone," said RadTech's owner, John Grzeskowiak. "That's slightly more than for the fifth-generation iPod."
Here is a sampling of what's available now or coming soon:
Cases
Some cases cover the unit completely, but most the vast majority of the first to market are little more than frames that protect the edges of the device.
Incipio Technologies is offering $30 leather cases in 14 colors. Belkin's first offerings, also $30, include an armband holder, an acrylic case and a black leather belt holster.
DLO is selling two case styles initially: the black $35 leather hip case ejects the phone with a push of two fingers, and includes holes to store the device's ear buds.
Its $25 Jam Jacket, available in four colors, leaves the iPhone's proximity sensor, volume control, camera lens and headset jack exposed. The Apple ear buds can be stored on the outside of the case.
For the Screen
While an iPod is usually kept in a pocket, the iPhone is going to see much more face time. Sticking an iPhone next to your eyes and ears — especially after all your envious friends have manhandled it — may not be the most sanitary practice.
To exploit this concern, the case maker iSkin is marketing an iPhone case that includes an antimicrobial agent embedded in the silicon. The $40 revo case will be available in four colors next month.
The revo includes a privacy screen to prevent prying eyes from knowing your taste in YouTube videos. A removable hard visor will protect the screen when not in use.
Apple's decision to use a glass screen rather than plastic may protect the device from scratches, but it is not enough to stop companies from selling screen-protection products. "The money shot of the iPhone is its screen," said Andrew Green, DLO's vice president for marketing and design. "It is up to us to protect it."
DLO will be selling replaceable glass covers. RadTech will be selling an iPhone version of its ClearCal protective screen. The $10 transparent Mylar sheet uses a siliconized adhesive to fill in minute scratches on the screen's surface.
Headsets
Appleis marketing what it believes is one of the smallest Bluetooth headsets available. The black $129 device delivers what the company says is up to 72 hours of standby time and up to 5.5 hours of talk time.The standard Apple-supplied wired headset includes a tiny squeezable switch that allows the user to move back and forth between listening to music and answering calls. But some users fault the company's earbuds for poor sound quality and an inability to remain in the ear.
In August, Shure, a headphone manufacturer, will sell the Music Phone Adapter, a $40 device that connects to its existing line of sound-isolating headphones and incorporates what the company says is a professional quality microphone as well as a switch that allows users to send and end calls without touching the iPhone.
ISkin's Cerulean F1 headset, $130, sends a wireless stereo signal from an iPhone when playing music, automatically switches to mono when answering a call, and then back to stereo when the call is finished.
Future Products
Now that manufacturers have been able to get their hands on actual iPhones, expect accessories to proliferate.
The iPhone's inaccessible battery is one opportunity. "As both a phone and an iPod, the iPhone raises very interesting issues, such as battery life," said Rishi Persaud, an iSkin vice president, noting that external battery packs and piggyback batteries are two products that the company will explore.
Other companies are likely to market replacement batteries, but have no need to introduce such products now, as the iPhone's standard warranty will cover battery failure for the next 12 months.
The other potentially large opportunity is in devices that enhance the iPod part of the iPhone. Belkin will soon sell a device to play iPhone music through a car's speakers; the company is also considering various Bluetooth wireless solutions to do the same.
For those iPhone owners who hope to find a way to dock their device into an existing speaker system, beware. Because of the radio frequency on which the wireless system operates, incoming calls could cause noisy interference. iSkin and others are working on speaker docks that contain the proper shielding to prevent that.
Apple will undoubtedly mix it up, as it did with the iPod, with new iPhone designs and force accessory makers back to the drawing boards and consumers back to the stores.
