Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
For years, Apple’s clout in the electronics world could be gauged by how easy it was to bump into devices tailor-made for a connection to an iPhone or iPod.
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Hotels outfitted guest rooms with alarm clocks containing a telltale
wedge of 30 tiny pins that could play music from Apple’s devices and
charge their batteries. Retail stores were thick with sound docks and
other speaker systems meant to work with Apple gadgets.
But Apple’s iron grip on the digital accessories in hotel rooms, store
shelves and living rooms is starting to slip — potentially risking the
royalties it earns from accessory makers and, more significant, giving
Apple customers more freedom to switch to rival products. That could be
an issue for a company whose stock has been shaken in recent months as
investors worry that the iPhone business is slowing.
Jeremy Horwitz, editor in chief of iLounge, a Web site devoted to Apple
accessories, said Apple’s aggressive control over accessories for its
products drove many makers to more open means of connecting devices,
which helped feed the success of mobile devices made by other companies.
“At some point Apple’s obsession with having control over everything
that is associated with its products may wind up biting it,” Mr. Horwitz
said.
The Bluetooth standard for wireless connections has allowed accessory
makers to build products that can work with many kinds of devices
because they no longer have to worry about a physical hook. Other phone
makers like Samsung and tablet-computing device makers like Amazon have
become strong alternatives in the eyes of gadget shoppers.
And Apple itself provided an opening for competitors when it changed the
way its phones connect to other devices, aggravating both its business
partners and consumers.
Now accessory makers are eager, even obliged, to think beyond Apple.
“We’ve had to adapt to new technology, support more devices and meet the
growing demands of consumers looking for accessories that can
accommodate multiple devices,” said Ezra S. Ashkenazi, chief executive
of iHome, one of the biggest makers of iPhone clock radios and other
Apple audio accessories. This year, iHome is releasing more products
with Bluetooth than ever before, he said.
Apple says it is fine with the wireless direction in which accessories
are headed. “Apple provides users with the best wired and wireless
connectivity options to work with the broadest range of accessories,”
said Tom Neumayr, a spokesman for Apple. “As a result, iOS users have
access to the world’s largest ecosystem of options and the most seamless
integration with our products.”
Apple expected some grumbling from customers and partners last fall when
it introduced in the iPhone 5 a new way for the mobile phone to connect
to other devices. But its executives defended the connector, Lightning,
because the new, smaller design allowed for slimmer phones and tablets.
While the 30-pin connector can be plugged into an old iPhone in only one
way, a Lightning cable works even if it is flipped over.
Apple did not tell accessory makers about the change ahead of time,
which is normal for a company known for its secrecy, but it was painful
for many of its partners.
“You really don’t know where Apple is going to go next, if they’re going
to change to something else down the road,” said Kyle Thompson,
director of marketing for Cambridge SoundWorks. “They’ve made a lot of
companies like us really nervous.”
That change frustrated partners whose customers had invested in products
that used Apple’s old 30-pin connector. Those older devices are
incompatible with the latest Apple products without an adapter that
Apple sells for $29 to connect to the latest Apple products. Also, the
new Lightning connectors are more expensive to license and manufacture
than the old ones, electronics makers say.
“A lot of us were bitten pretty badly by the connector transition,” said
Ian Geise, senior vice president for marketing and product development
at Voxx Accessories Corporation, which makes audio products under RCA,
Acoustic Research and other brand names.
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