I imagine Apple themselves are still pretty well out of these even with low sales.
I bought one based on some early (hype?) reviews. I knew Siri wasn’t going to be great but was happy with a direct stream/AirPlay device. I was pretty underwhelmed by the sound and returned it unfortunately.
I’d have kept it at half the price but didn’t feel it was worth the premium over the competition. It’s a tricky market as audiophile music reproduction is better served by traditional hifi (with tonnes of options/pricepoints/etc) that can smartified by dots/minis/chromecast etc. The mass market that the HomePod is going for, good enough for living room, parties and multi room is better served by the rather good mid range products by google/amazon/sonos etc.
I don’t think the HomePod is worth the premium sonically over the others (and obviously lacks in other features). It’s in my “good enough” bracket and simply seems overpriced compared to the competition. I think the only thing that’s remotely audiophile about the HomePod is the “diminishing returns”
I’d like to try again but only once the price and physical size are revisited.