Apple went searching for a new market, and it found one in item tracking. The market space had been dominated by Tile. Then Samsung released SmartTags, followed shortly by Apple introducing AirTags.
While the debate about competition rages, people are looking for their lost luggage, keys, pets, and more and are interested in new ways to find them. The NPD group surveyed over 5,000 cell phone users about item trackers, and 64% expressed interest in them. Among Apple users specifically, the number was 69% and for Android users, 57%.
Item trackers are a fairly inexpensive purchase (about $30 for one) considering the material and emotional value of what they can be attached to. NPD said that sales in the category were up just 2% in dollars and 7% in units over last year, but the introduction of AirTags is likely to boost those numbers soon.
