Apple Discontinues Full-Sized HomePod to Focus on HomePod Mini

[Rob_2811]

When a company starts discontinuing things left and right, it’s a good sign about the direction the company is going. Good strategy isn’t about saying “yes” to everything, it’s about choosing when to say “no”

Yeah I know that’s kinda a Steve Jobs quote, but you’ll find that philosophy in most business journals.

It's been a problem throughout Cooks tenure as CEO, they make money (mostly from iPhone and iPhone accessories) but beyond that they are strategically all over the place, throwing things at the wall and hoping it sticks.

The Apple TV has been around since before the iPhone, so I’m not sure how you can say it’s doomed to failure lol. And Apple has never been about competing on price. If they don’t think they can make a good product below a certain price, the don’t do it. Look at the cheapest iPhone versus the cheapest Android. Same for smart watches. Yes Apple has affordable versions of many of their products, but they don’t chase the lowest common denominator at the cost of product quality.

Because it has next to no market share, that is why it is doomed to failiure as a hardware product. It's been left behind.

As for 'Apple has never competed on price' Great, but in some categories they will fail with that approach because nobody wants something that costs multiple times more that the competing products in that category. That is exactly what has happened with the Homepod.

 

[Shanghaichica]

To be fair to Apple I think larger, more expensive smart speakers have generally failed across the board. With the exception of Sonos the likes of the google home max was discontinued long before the OG HomePod. The Amazon studio also isn’t selling that well.

Audiophiles are few and far between these days. You only have to look at the preference for digital music over physical music formats. So for the vast majority of people a £49/£99 speaker is really as much as they are willing to spend. Even if Siri was the best assistant in the world people were never really going to spend £300 for high quality audio. People just don’t care enough.

 

[TJ82]

Never bought a HomePod.

Now own 4 HomePod Minis.

Says a lot about what many people want to do with these and the sort of price range they need to be in to make that happen. It's great having the sound played all around the house - I can create atmospheres, block noise etc. Love the Mini. Smart features aren't really that interesting yet and you can always buy a posh high quality sounding speaker.

The USP's at the moment are ease of use with Apple's phone and cost-effective enough to buy a lot of them.

Still don't know how to play sounds on all 4 from my MacBook Pro though!

 

[TJ82]

I highly doubt this, mainly due to the name. If there’s just a HomePod mini, that’s kind of stupid.
That would be like them discontinuing the regular iPad, and all the other iPads, but keeping around an iPad mini.
But not completely unexpected

This guy would make a really, really terrible analyst

 

[darthbane2k]

Never bought a HomePod.

Now own 4 HomePod Minis.

Says a lot about what many people want to do with these and the sort of price range they need to be in to make that happen. It's great having the sound played all around the house - I can create atmospheres, block noise etc. Love the Mini. Smart features aren't really that interesting yet and you can always buy a posh high quality sounding speaker.

The USP's at the moment are ease of use with Apple's phone and cost-effective enough to buy a lot of them.

Still don't know how to play sounds on all 4 from my MacBook Pro though!

I have two full size homepods and two minis. The mini doesn’t even compare. When you have both you realise just how odd this decision by Apple is.

 

[arcadelt]

But I do wonder how many folks are really using 10 year old TV's right now.

 

[darthbane2k]

To be fair to Apple I think larger, more expensive smart speakers have generally failed across the board. With the exception of Sonos the likes of the google home max was discontinued long before the OG HomePod. The Amazon studio also isn’t selling that well.

Audiophiles are few and far between these days. You only have to look at the preference for digital music over physical music formats. So for the vast majority of people a £49/£99 speaker is really as much as they are willing to spend. Even if Siri was the best assistant in the world people were never really going to spend £300 for high quality audio. People just don’t care enough.

Sonos is more expensive than HomePod. Plus you have to deal with a terrible walled garden app. They also can’t be used as standard Bluetooth speakers. People don’t seem to mind that.

 

[arcadelt]

If I buy speakers, I expect them to work throughout their lifetime.

Sonos users faced this crisis recently, and this is the takeaway - you didn’t buy speakers, you bought tech!

 

[Rob_2811]

Sonos is more expensive than HomePod. Plus you have to deal with a terrible walled garden app. They also can’t be used as standard Bluetooth speakers. People don’t seem to mind that.

Um

You can't get Sonos speakers much cheaper than the Homepod that support Airplay 2 and most of the major streaming platforms.

 

[shabagiuly]

So they discontinue the HomePod but keep the iPod ? Interesting.

 

[arcadelt]

Yeah I have the same feeling that I might need to sell them.
Problem is nobody will be interested in buying them...

I think in the short term prices will spike in the secondary market as people buy them to finish their setup...but then they will plummet when people start to realise the lack of longevity.

 

[darthbane2k]

Um

You can't get Sonos speakers much cheaper than the Homepod that support Airplay 2 and most of the major streaming platforms.

If I want the same room filling quality as HomePod then my cheapest choice Is Play 5. That’s £500.
I have a Sonos One and it doesn’t compare to HomePod.
Airplay 2 on Sonos doesn’t work as reliably as HomePod. With Sonos I also cannot command Siri directly nor access any iCloud integration, nor add songs to my library from Apple Music radio etc etc The tradeoffs are too many.

 

[BigMac?]

Wow new negative record for Apple:
Minus 2 devices (iMac pro, Home pod) vs. zero new devices.
Hope this year gets better than it started.

 

[Le0M]

I wonder: is it just an economical reason? And if so, how could they not make a margin from a high priced speaker?
they might have sold less than expected, so what? I'm sure they still sold millions of them, and would still if they kept it on the market.

 

[Rob_2811]

If I want the same room filling quality as HomePod then my cheapest choice Is Play 5. That’s £500.
I have a Sonos One and it doesn’t compare to HomePod.
Airplay 2 on Sonos doesn’t work as reliably on HomePod. With Sonos I also cannot command Siri directly nor access any iCloud integration, nor add songs to my library from Apple Music radio etc etc

Yeah the problem is two Sonos Ones cost only slightly more that one Homepod

The things you mention are great if you live in the Apple ecosystem and every device and service you use is Apple, that just isn't reality for a lot of people.

 

[shabagiuly]

Is it true you can’t stereo pair minis? Because I’d hate to lose the set up from my TV if my original homepods ever stop working.

Yes you can. You can’t pair a classic HomePod with a mini that’s all.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Sonos is more expensive than HomePod. Plus you have to deal with a terrible walled garden app. They also can’t be used as standard Bluetooth speakers. People don’t seem to mind that.

Sonos have done better but they are not exactly flying off the shelf either. I think people generally just don’t want to spend a lot of money on a speaker. They are happy to use their laptops or pay £49 or less for a smart speaker and listen to their streamed music and MP3s. Most people aren’t even paying £49 for a google home mini or an echo dot. They are getting them free or getting them for £20. I’ve had several google home mini speakers for free, I got one for £10. The echo speakers I have the most I paid for the larger echo was £59. The rest were under £30.

 

[ned1]

This means Apple can now walk away from sorting out Hand Off which has never worked properly on my stereo paired home pods

 

[iJustines]

You know Tim Cook doesn't know why it failed to become the best-selling gadget.

Apple is launching second generation of HomePod at a more competitive price in WWDC 2021. As a result, it will be the right to discontinue the $299 HomePod.

 

[darthbane2k]

I guess the future is Sonos and Alexa. Best start clearing house 😞

 

[justperry]

Apple clearly overestimated themselves price wise, should have priced them at $299 for a pair with Aux input, they would have sold millions.

 

[the future]

This is what you get when too many cheapskates „wait for version 2“ ... there is no version 2. A truly great audio product and such a shame, but if the sales don‘t justify further engineering resources those are better applied elsewhere, I guess. Maybe the HomePod was too much of a middle ground product and one day we‘ll get a much bigger, truly mindblowing HomePod Max (but I doubt it).

 

[castor]

So they decide only to sell the item in a handful of countries, then complains no one buys it? You can't get the HomePod/Mini in most of Europe, Asia, South America etc. "Rich" customers in Scandinavia, Italy, UAE etc, or populous markets such as Brazil, Indonesia, Philippines and a loooong list are not able to shovel money at it. Same with Fitness+. It appears Apple doesn't comprehend ppl all over the world understand English, and may even prefer that to lame translations or dubbings. Local Siri here in Norway is a complete joke, but I still can't control my AppleTV in English. Impossible to select. Frustrating for my English born husband. On my phone she does a great job in English. For everyday timers and smart home control etc, we have to use Google voice assistant, which is the only widely available and functioning service.

 

[iJustines]

It's been a problem throughout Cooks tenure as CEO, they make money (mostly from iPhone and iPhone accessories) but beyond that they are strategically all over the place, throwing things at the wall and hoping it sticks.





Because it has next to no market share, that is why it is doomed to failiure as a hardware product. It's been left behind.

As for 'Apple has never competed on price' Great, but in some categories they will fail with that approach because nobody wants something that costs multiple times more that the competing products in that category. That is exactly what has happened with the Homepod.

I couldn't agree more with those points. Tim Cook is not the kind of CEO that can elevate product innovation or interest in making the best possible product at Apple.

It is the same problems that’s happening at Apple after Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985.

 

[Carlson-online]

As with other smart speakers, the deal breaker on these was the lack of an aux in. I would have bought two for my office if that existed !