iPhone-connected accessories rank among top Amazon Prime Day sellers

By Roger Fingas

A few iPhone- and iPad-compatible accessories were among the bestsellers on Prime Day, Amazon's one-day sales event held on July 11 -- though one of Amazon's own products topped global charts.

Some regional bestsellers included the TP-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug in the U.K., and the AmazonBasics Lightning-to-USB cable in Mexico, Amazon said. The Smart Plug, notably, works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but not Apple's HomeKit. iPhone owners without an Echo or a Google Home must typically use a dedicated app.

Some popular Mac-compatible products included the SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive in Spain, and the Seagate Expansion 1.5TB Portable External Drive in India.

The overall bestseller was Amazon's own Echo Dot, a cheaper version of the regular Echo meant to connect to external speakers. The product's U.S. price was slashed $15 to just $34.99, making it vastly cheaper than any of its competitors.

Amazon commented that orders via its mobile app for iOS and Android "more than doubled" versus Prime Day 2016. The company didn't offer specifics, except to say that "tens of millions" of people used the app.

The makers of the iPhone-compatible Furbo Dog Camera said that their sales jumped "by over 500 times" on Prime Day, hitting first place in four categories, such as Pet Supplies.