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Scrapped iPhone audio jack causes ‘huge’ surge in wireless headphone sales

As expected, Apple’s abandonment of the iPhone headphone jack has prompted a major surge in the sale of wireless headphones.

Last year, Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 and grabbed plenty of media attention – but for all the wrong reasons. The US tech giant had decided to kill off the headphone jack, effectively making a huge chunk of its customer base’s earbuds redundant in one fell swoop.

The alternative, Apple suggested, was to fork out £9 for a 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapter (sold by Apple, naturally), or pick up a shiny new pair of wireless headphones. Unsurprisingly, this has caused a significant jump in the sale of such headphones.

According to new figures released by UK retailer Argos, the number of Bluetooth headphones sold has risen by an incredible 343% over the last 12 months – that’s exactly one year since the iPhone 7 debuted.

Related: iPhone X vs iPhone 8

“Changes in the mobile market have driven a huge – and incredibly rapid – shift in the way that people listen to music,” said Dean Clarke, Technology Accessories Buyer at Argos, in a statement sent to Trusted Reviews. “This has been one of the fastest adoptions of a technology that we’ve ever seen; the rate at which consumers are adopting wireless headphones is a remarkable transformation in purchasing habits.”

It’s highly likely that this trend will continue too, given that Apple has decided to stick to its guns and jettison the headphone jack on the new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X – all of which were announced earlier this month.

Clarke continued: “Apple, one of the biggest players in the mobile market, has caused the switch. The iPhone 7 was one of the first top-selling UK flagship smartphones to ditch the headphone socket, and the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X following suit this year has confirmed that wireless is likely to be the standard going forwards.”

Argos has also revealed its best-selling wireless headphones in the UK and Ireland, and Apple is unsurprisingly top of the list (despite the lofty £159 price tag). Seems like the move to ditch headphone jacks paid off then, eh? Here’s the full list:

Related: iPhone 9

What’s your view on the headphone jack – yay or nay? Let us know via Facebook or Twitter.

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