I just came for the hardware...

It's my favorite time of the day - early morning. While the rest of the neighborhood slumbers on, I'm awake and getting ready. I hear nothing but the sound of my own heartbeat and footsteps bouncing down the stairs…well perhaps the bark of a dog or the chirping of early birds.

When I throw open the door to my neighborhood, I'm eager to get moving. I stretch, slip on my wireless headphones and begin my run. With my Beats or iPods tucked into my ears, the world comes into focus. It's amazing how such a small device (literally half the size of my palm) can be so revolutionary.

Last year, if you had told me that my biggest obsession would be sets of headphones - I would have laughed heartily at you. Especially, if you had asked me after finishing the Nike 10K in Culver City. Instead of receiving a medal like most races I was handed a pair of Beats wireless headphones and I was...disappointed.

I proudly display my rack of medals in my apartment - reminding me how far I've come - a woman who utterly despised running just five years ago. The thought of not having another medal to grace the hooks of my rack angered me. Then the craziest thing happened - I turned on the headphones and everything changed.

Suddenly, the world was wireless - truly wireless. I could run without my iPhone in my hand, I could adjust the volume without touching the phone and most importantly, I had new mobility - no more cords getting stuck between my hands or shirt while sprinting up a tough hill. I was free. What irony, the reward I had shunned, provided me the greatest pleasure.

Which is why I was overjoyed on March 25 when Apple announced an upgraded set of AirPods. Forget the announcement of Apple+ (aka Texture), the appearance of Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon or heck, even Oprah Winfred. Banish thoughts of Apple partnering with Goldman Sachs on a credit card, the star of the show was AirPods 2 far and away.

Yes, doubters go ahead and shake your heads, but while you do so, let me share some statistics that may force you to do a double take.

• 26M units - that's how many AirPods analysts expect Apple sold in 2018

• $17.4B in revenue or 7% of Apple's overall sales in 2018

• 12% attach rate - the projected bundle of iPhone + AirPods

• 50M units - that's how many AirPods analysts expect Apple to sell in 2019 (90% YoY growth)

• AirPods are outpacing Apple Watch sales by ~40%

• 80M units - that's the number of AirPods expected to sell by 2020

• Finally, AirPods are the second fastest selling Apple product of all time

Note - Apple currently does not disclose units or revenue of AirPods sold

These numbers put it in the ballpark of iPad sales. For a company attempting to break into subscription services, I'd argue (along with many bloggers out there) that Apple is still a hardware company at heart.

Who else could rip a headphone jack out of their latest iPhone models - the exact opposite of what I wanted them to do? For months, I sat staunchly opposed to upgrading my phone - dreading the loss of that precious jack. Then when finally forced to upgrade and paired with my wireless AirPods or Beats or Ankur (did I mention that I have a wireless headphone problem?), I wondered why I ever needed that headphone jack in the first place?

Or refuse to change the design of the product? Since their debut nearly three years ago, Apple has resisted changing the traditional pearl white color of the AirPod device and case. Only a hardware company obsesses over those types of details.

To be clear, this is not the first time Apple has chosen aesthetics over consumer preference. Look no further than suite of wireless products - iPhone, iPad and of course the Watch. Time and again, Apple has marched to their own drum - often bucking consumer preference.

This was driven home two years ago when my siblings had purchased an Apple Watch for my father. I had remarked how the Watch came in a long rectangular box which I thought was inefficient and rather awkward. My sister in law pointed out that the long box enhanced the "wow" factor when unwrapping the Watch. (To her credit, I understood when my father unwrapped the Watch).

Unlike other product lines for Apple which I view as saturated (looking at you - iPhones, iPads and subscription services), the wireless earbuds market is ripe for picking. There are only a few competitors in the space - one of which is Beats (which Apple purchased in 2014), Anker, Jabra, Bose and Sennheiser. Since 2014, Apple has taken a significant market share in this division (reports indicate that Apple owns ~60% of the market). However, there's been rumors that Amazon is eyeing this field - preparing earbuds to work with Alexa but it has a lot of ground to make up if the market share estimates above are accurate.

Aside - Given Amazon's past, I fully expect them to introduce earbuds at a heavily discounted price or bundled with any Alexa enabled device sold to boost market penetration.

To sum it up - to say that I'm obsessed with my headphones is an understatement. Cases in point -

A few weeks ago, when I returned from a trip and thought I had left my charger at my hotel, I nearly burst into tears and was prepared to pay an obscene amount of money to have a new cord overnight shipped to me. (Thank goodness, I found the charger buried in my suitcase).

More recently, at my corporate recognition event a few weeks ago, when presented with a room full of "prizes" ranging from full screen TVs, a full kitchenette, a three piece suitcase set - I selected the newest AirPod 2s. And I'd do it again. Hands down.

Why? Because there's no better runner's high than having your favorite tunes vibrate crisply in your ears in the morning while running your favorite trails.