Will Something Called 'Lightning Connector' Replace The Headphone Jack?

It's been six weeks since the Japanese website

reported that Apple Inc.

was planning to get rid of 3.5M headphone jacks on its iPhone 7, and instead replace them with an all-in-one Lightning connector for both connectivity and audio output. Chinese websites

and

also mentioned that apparently this rumor is true," according to supply chain news from unnamed sources. "The latest coming from the mouth of the supply chain of wind: Apple indeed plans to cancel the traditional body in the next generation iPhone headphone jack, and will start from this year for the iPhone with wireless Bluetooth headsets," Wei Feng network news stated. Shares of Apple have declined 11.49 percent over the past month, dropping to low of $102.67 on January 4. The all-in-one Lightning connector speculation is interesting. "Apple may release Lightning-equipped EarPods, Apple offers Powerbeats 2, Studio wireless headphones, and Solo2 through its Beats brand. The company had released MFi Program specifications in June 2014. The specifications allow third-party manufacturers to create Lightning-equipped headphone," Mac Otakara's

said. Apple's latest headphones renaissance rumours might really come true. The speculation comes amid Lightning headphones just beginning to gain traction in the market. The global headphones market grew by nearly 10 percent in volume last year to reach 286 million units shipped, triggering 16 percent growth in retail value and revenues of $8.4 billion, according to a

from Futuresource Consulting.