Join the businesses who have begun to edge out competitors by scouring the web for alternative data.

Beginning in November 2019, Apple ($AAPL) launched a minor hiring spree for jobs with the term "Acoustic" in their titles. The jobs hint at a future audio product with mentions of AirPod or HomePod developments. Of course, as Apple is fond of doing, this could signal an entirely new audio product from the company. Given how well the AirPod Pros have been received, it's certainly plausible that Apple plans to double down. But until we know, here's what we know.

On November 1, Apple was only hiring for one such job. As of this week, it lists 12 such positions around the world. They include:

Title Location Text Posted Date Acoustic Mechanical Design Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/09 Acoustic Engineer - Apple Watch Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/09 Mac & iPad Acoustic Integration Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/09 iPhone Acoustic Integration Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/09 Acoustics Engineering Program Manager Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/11 Acoustic Transducer Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/13 Acoustics Technician Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) 2019/11/14 Acoustic Engineer Shenzhen 2019/11/18 Acoustics Engineering Project Manager Suzhou 2019/11/19 Acoustic Engineer Shanghai 2019/11/21 Acoustic Engineer, Beats Acoustics & Audio Culver City 2019/12/01 Acoustic Engineer - Transducers, Beats Acoustics & Audio Culver City 2019/12/03

A couple of the positions are within Apple's Beats team, and one is for the Apple Watch team. Each of the positions makes mention of a "world-class Acoustics team" that Apple is developing which is described as such: "Sound is an essential and compelling facet of the customer experience – Apple has assembled a world-class Acoustics team that enables our customers to experience music with delight, communicate with clarity, and appreciate our products without disturbance from noise."

An Acoustics Technician position based at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, for instance, is slated to work on the "Noise & Vibration team" to "minimize distracting audible noises and optimize their sound quality."

Of course, Apple is always developing new products and prototyping, but these recent hiring spree certainly suggests that something new and audio-based will be coming from Apple.

In fact, the last few times this team saw hiring peaks saw ensuing products. A 2016 peak foretold the original AirPods. One in 2017 came ahead of the HomePod. We'll be watching. Or listening? No, that can't be right.

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.

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