iPod dad: Apple to revive Airport router - and needs more Smart Home
Apple's HomeKit department feels like it's bobbing along. Former manager Tony Fadell hopes this will change soon - and would like to see Airport products back.
Apple AirPort Express: discontinued in 2018.
(Image: Apple)
Which product categories should Apple focus on next? Former Apple manager Tony Fadell, who is considered the father of the iPod, has an idea: the iPhone manufacturer should invest more in the smart home sector, he recently wrote on X. Fadell, who left Apple in 2008 to devote himself to the current Google subsidiary Nest, also has a firm opinion on abandoning a certain product category.
In search of new projects
"[Apple] should be investing 20 times more in the smart home sector, not twice as much," says Fadall. The company had "not invested in anything substantial for a long time". In fact, just a few months ago, Apple discontinued its vehicle project, which had cost billions. However, a lot of money is also flowing into the Vision Pro, which could appear in a cheaper version as early as next year.
Fadell knows his way around the smart home segment. His first company after leaving Apple was Nest Labs, where they developed a smart thermostat. The company was then sold to Google in 2014 for over 3 billion US dollars. Fadell currently runs a venture capital fund called Build Collective. His last position at Apple was Senior Vice President of the iPod division, having joined the iPod & Special Projects group in 2001 to coordinate the iSight camera family alongside the MP3 player.
Missing router a "fundamental mistake"
Internally at Apple, the company is said to already be looking for a "next big thing" after the end of the vehicle project. In addition to Vision (Pro) and the Apple Intelligence division, this could, according to rumors, be household robotics. A first step could be the development of a "robotic smart display", it was said in the spring.
Fadell also criticized Apple for its decision in 2018 to discontinue its AirPort router product line. This was a fundamental strategic mistake. "You can't say that more clearly." Apple had been working on the topic since 1999 and was one of the pioneers in the Wi-Fi technology segment. 19 years later, the company then decided to abandon the product line.
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