Huawei is currently working on the MatePod, a pair of headphones designed to compete with Apple's famous AirPods. The Chinese manufacturer even goes so far as to take up a name similar to several products developed by its rival: "Pod", such as AirPods, HomePod or iPod.
AirPods are the most popular wireless headphones on the market. They account for more than 50% of the market share. Unsurprisingly, many brands have been inspired by AirPods to appeal to buyers. Among the most similar clones are Realme's Buds Air or Razer's Hammerheads.
For its part, Huawei launched the Freebuds. Visually very similar, they are a solid alternative to Apple headphones. In the coming months, the Chinese manufacturer has reportedly decided to go even further in the field. According to our colleagues at LetsGoDigital, Huawei is currently working on the MatePod, a new range of wireless headphones. On 6 January 2020, Huawei filed the "MatePod" trademark with EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office) and the IPO (the UK Intellectual Property Office). The device is summarily described as a pair of connected wireless headphones.
For now, it is not known whether Huawei will replace the Freebuds range with headphones called MatePod. Similarly, the design and functionality of the accessory is still unknown. In the absence of additional information, the MatePod might as well be the name of a wireless pod or a (umpteenth) pair of AirPods or AirPods Pro-style headphones.
Stop with Apple-style product names
In any case, Huawei is clearly looking for its products to be similar to certain Apple productions, including the iPod, HomePod or AirPods. If the pod suffix (from the English "basket" or bag) is obviously not the preserve of Apple, its use is regrettable for a product that should likely be a direct competitor of the AirPods.
The brand had already done this with MatePad, the Android tablets designed by Huawei. Again, the manufacturer simply took over the iPad suffix by adding "Mate". As a reminder, the firm uses the term "Mate" for the name of most of its products, including the smartphones of the Mate range. By replacing Freebuds with MatePod, Huawei is also seeking to harmonize the name of its products around the prefix "Mate". Too bad the firm felt compelled to sing (again) its rival Apple.
Read also: OnePlus will tackle AirPods with Bullets Wireless really wireless
Official presentation in March with the P40?
According to LetsGoDigital, Huawei may well present the MatePod as early as March 2020. At the same conference, the Chinese firm will unveil the Huawei P40 and P40 Pro. We'll tell you more as soon as possible.
Source: LetsGoDigital