[makeitdouble]

> They only lose the marketing edge

This is a bigger deal than it may sound. Apple isn't operating in a vacuum, sony[0] and bose are also targeting the market and they'll also probably do their marketing push as they see fit.

Apple only having a "kinda works as a hearing aid" is a sizeable disadvantage when the other brands will have posters in prominent places at sales points. Apple would still win on online sales and people who don't need that much reliability of course.

[0] https://electronics.sony.com/otc-hearing-aids

[criddell]

How do Sony or Bose have any kind of retail advantage? What stores that sell Sony and Bose don't also sell Apple stuff? Plus Apple has their own stores which make more money per square foot than just about any other retailer.

[talldayo]

Sony has great audio codecs and doesn't treat my Linux desktop as a second-class citizen. I have zero reason to even consider Airpods as a serious alternative for as long as they treat multipoint bluetooth as an optional feature.

Once you factor price into the equation, there's very little reason for an educated customer to pick the Airpods besides marketing. Apple doesn't give people a good reason unless they already own thousands of dollars in other Apple hardware.

[hofo]

Because they’re about to sell their products as hearing aids due to the recent OTC hearing aid regulation change.

[makeitdouble]

You seem to be painting Sony or Bose as some small upstart that struggle to get store shelf. I'm not sure to follow.

Sony funnily also has presence in many specialized and/or non tech shops (select goods shops etc.) where they could be only two or three earbuds. If Apple didn't get the certification, having a spot for Sony's or Bose's ones could have been a natural choice if the shop targeted that kind of demographic.

[criddell]

There aren't enough of those specialized shops to make a difference. Certainly not enough to present a sizeable disadvantage for Apple. If anything, not being in the Apple Store presents a sizeable disadvantage for Sony.

[mananaysiempre]

Funnily enough, the company that bought out the consumer audio division of Sennheiser some time ago is a manufacturer of hearing aids. (No hearing aid features have manifested in the Momentum True Wireless series thus far.)