Apple Drops HomePod Price to $299, Down From $349

[jonnyb098]

I was going to take issue with what you wrote above. But I decided to do some Googling first so I could have some facts.

I was surprised to find that Bose' revenue was $3.8 billion 2017. Now not all of that is in the home audio/home entertainment business. And they don't really compare to Apple's $229 billion in 2017. But I cede to you that the home audio market is larger that I had envisioned.

Still, Apple is going to have a hard time getting its smart-speaker business to even one-tenth the volume of iPhone sales.

I applaud you for doing your due diligence.

To your point about apples smart speaker business....Apple has zero intention of growing that business to the volume of iPhone. It’s more of an accessory product. It’s about the ecosystem. Hell if Apple just added a fully portable $199 HomePod mini to the mix it could dominate. Since even at half the size it would sound much better than the competition.

I know some will say Siri needs to be better. Which I agree. But for music Siri works just fine 99 percent of the time. And that’s what HomePod is all about. Music.

Personally my opinion on “smart speakers” for all the other random BS is just that...BS. I ask my HomePod to do two things....play music and for the weather in the morning before I leave for work. The rest of it....buying stuff....random facts....I just use my iPhone or iPad.

 

[NoIdentity]

Or, they could just keep the same price, add a jack & allow any audio to be bluetoothed to it, I don't think the price is the main issue.

I have to say, the fact of it being an apple only speaker makes it that more expensive. It is worth noting that speakers in general have long lifespans. Heck I even have some speakers 40 years old. For 300 I can get a pair of Yamaha H5, all I need then is an airport express. Maybe I won't be able to shout at the damn thing. But you know in 30 years time they will still work (probably, since they are active not passive speakers)

 

[PickUrPoison]

HomePod is currently listed for $399 on the Canadian Apple store (apple.ca). They have a long way to go before I'd considering dropping any $ on this.

Thats nothing, in Hong Kong its $2,399!!!
[doublepost=1554419019][/doublepost]

Make that:

€349 = €288,43 without 21% VAT
€329 = €271,90 without 21% VAT

In short. Apple only gives you a discount of €16,53 or $18,55.

€271.90 is $305. That’s only $6 more than we pay in the states.

At €349, it was already lower priced at $324, compared to $349 in the US, so it got a smaller discount.

The same thing happened in Canada, it was less than the US price before today’s price cut, now it is exactly the same at $299.

 

[44267547]

Sell them in a pair for $350 then I'll jump. Would rather have a smaller unit for my kitchen and bedroom as well as have them wired and offering Mesh WiFi.

I don’t think Apple really is big on combinations or selling thing in pairs like a HomePod. But I will say, I do think there will be a smaller version the HomePod eventually. Where the HomePod we have now is more of the ‘central hub’, and then there might be some type a ‘HomePod mini’ in the works, I would not be surprised if that is something that is released within the next year or so.

 

[alphacen]

Sorry, I've no interest of having microphones that are listening to me all the time, hence the reason I disable Siri on my phone and my computer.

 

[44267547]

Who the hell would pay $300 for a stand alone speaker???

Then you’re not the target demographic for the HomePod, clearly. The HomePod is about isolation and placing the sound wherever you want in your household to deliver the sound at the users choice. If you understood the amount of engineering that was involved into the HomePod and actually demoed the HomePod to see its true potential, you wouldn’t be questioning who would be ‘paying for a standalone speaker’. The sound of the HomePod delivers on a different level.

 

[Triumphguy675]

No thanks. Not even interested at $99. I don't need "smart speakers" in my home, especially ones that rely on Siri which is absolutely horrendous.

Whoever is in charge of Siri development needs a damn good shoeing.

Couldn't agree more, SIRI is a complete and utter waste

 

[Shivetya]

Apple today cut the price of HomePod on its online store by $50, with the smart speaker now listed for $299, down from $349. The price drop follows recent promotional discounts at several third-party retailers across the U.S.

One hundred more off and then I won't laugh at the price anymore

 

[dogslobber]

Poor man's iPod Hi-Fi.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Do TVs not come with speakers? Do phones not have speakers? Who the hell would pay $300 for a stand alone speaker???

You know ... once upon a time, there were many stand alone speakers.
In a living room, or family room in every home.
It was an era of component stereo systems, which ruled every man's home.
then came the bookshelf stereo systems, from women across the galaxy that threatened to ruin the tyranny of the home music listening blockade ... ​

j/k but yeah prior to '92 the component system RULED homes and so did individual or a pair of stand-alone speakers.

 

[MacOG728893]

I really like mine. I think $299 is a bit more reasonable than the original asking price, but this speaker is so much better than my $200 JBL Bluetooth portable speaker or my Bose desktop computer speakers. Not that either of these set the standard for speaker quality, but it’s what I have to compare to.

On a sidenote, I would love to have a home pod mini for dictation and responses only. Even if it had to be paired using an actual HomePod as standard.

 

[Canyonero]

I just bought one two weeks ago at full price from Apple Store. Does this mean I have to return it and buy a new one? Wouldn’t it be cheaper for Apple to just refund me $50? Does anyone know how this works in a situation like this?

 

[AppleScruff1]

That's not true. Apple may have driven manufacture costs down, and they are always about giving customers as much value as possible for a fair price.

And the Easter Bunny is real.

 

[chatin]

Lags significantly behind competitors in the "smart" department.

 

[Onelifenofear]

Yawn. You should stay away from dinner parties.

Homepod is simply terrible compared to Google and Amazon's products.

Your story has me enthralled and your knowledge of the subject matter is clearly immense...Except pretty much every sound expert rates HomePod over Amazon and Google’s... or are you talking about Siri.. which is software. Oh by the way software doesn’t mean floppy drives anymore.. just so you know.

 

[Cankoda]

Cool but the price isn't the problem... Fix Siri and we'll talk

 

[Aftermath747]

It's not a usable speaker if you can't feed everything through it , from all sources .
Why anybody buys those things with all it's limitations - that's beyond me .

Not a usable speaker when I can access the only music service I use and AirPlay everything else. Sure, makes sense.
[doublepost=1554428921][/doublepost]

It's not the same as Radio 4 and Radio

Nothing Apple has come close for my tastes as having Radio 4 and Radio 6 Music. Might be fine for you but I doubt I'm alone in wanting access to other radio stations.

I’m an American so I don’t know much about it. Our radio stations are nothing I would rather hear than Apple Music playlists. Even if I did, I could AirPlay them via the iHeartRadio app, if I was so inclined.
[doublepost=1554429023][/doublepost]

I like the playlists better. Seems to recommend me more music i like. I can cast to just about any device out there, xbox, tv, echo speaker, whatever really. It is basically on any smart device. Spotify connect is awesome. Sptify connect is very convenient also. You can actually airplay to a homepod too.

That’s fair. I’ve heard their playlists are better for some people. I wonder if it has more to do with Spotify or not having used Apple Music enough for it to “learn.”
[doublepost=1554429164][/doublepost]

I just bought one two weeks ago at full price from Apple Store. Does this mean I have to return it and buy a new one? Wouldn’t it be cheaper for Apple to just refund me $50? Does anyone know how this works in a situation like this?

Best Buy will give you the difference via refund if the price drops within the return period. Not sure about Apple’s policy.

 

[PickUrPoison]

And the Easter Bunny is real.

Yes let’s not live in a fantasy land, let’s talk the real world.

Apple makes about 20% profit. Here in the US, corporations are allowed to set their own prices for consumer electronics. Typically, that means “what the market will bear”.

If prices are not “fair”, or there isn’t enough value for the money, people won’t pay it. So when MR forum posters complain that the iPhone, for instance, is “too expensive” or “overpriced”, what they really mean is “too expensive for me”—there’s clearly nothing wrong with iPhone pricing when Apple is selling hundreds of millions of them every year. If they raise prices they will sell fewer; if they lower prices they will sell more. That’s the way economics dictates it must work, though obviously some people have trouble understanding complicated subjects like economics

So Apple makes 20% profit. How much would you prefer they make? If they lower prices 20% on average, they would have made $0.00 last quarter instead of $20 billion. How much would AppleScruff1 allow Apple to make?

Actually your answer doesn’t really matter, because in the US, consumer electronics prices are determined by supply and demand. That’s what dictates the selling price. I’m not sure how it works in your country, since I don’t know where you live.

But here in the US, the government doesn’t set the prices for Macs or iPhones or speakers. Apple sets the price and then actual customers decide if it’s fair or not. The market decides if something has value, and what that value is. Not the government, and not some random internet poster who might spend $150/month on their latte or espresso habit, but who thinks a $300 speaker outrageously overpriced.

If Apple wants to sell more product, they’ll have to lower the price. If they’re ok with selling fewer, they can raise the price. That’s the beauty of the system we have here (although there are plenty of things that aren’t so pretty about it, you can be sure of that).

End of today’s Econ 101 lesson (a two minute read is already too much).

 

[Defthand]

I don't understand why there's so much confusion as to what the Homepod is. From day one, it's name was the clue. It's a Homekit station doing double duty as a hifi speaker. If you're not into home automation it's silly to own one. There are better alternatives if you want a handsfree search engine or want immersive sound.

 

[EdT]

Others here will list as a ‘flop’ now because Apple dropped the price. Anyone that’s experienced the HomePod, knows exactly what this speaker is capable of producing in terms of quality sound. I don’t regret purchasing mine for the Original $350 price point.

What I wanted was a speaker (system) that I could use like a Sonos system:

• 5.1 or better surround sound for tv.
• Something that could be used to replace an iMac or Macbook system speakers.
• Something I could connect either wirelessly or wired to my existing sound systems to play records cd's and tapes.

What Apple released was:

• Something tied exclusively to an iPhone or iPad. You couldn't activate it without one. This may still be true,or not. I don't know.
• Something tied mostly to Apple Music.
• Originally you could not use airplay to send music/sound.
• Originally you could not use a pair as stereo speakers.
• Definitely is not a Sonos competitor- No surround sound, no connectivity to 3rd party devices.

I held off buying speakers because of the original HomePod announcement. What I'm not looking for is an Alexa or Google clone. I wanted a sound system. HomePod may sound better than Amazons or Googles offerings but that's not a very high standard to reach. And limiting what you can connect to and using a glorified MP3 format for your music is not Audiophile quality.

Since release they may have opened it up some, but you never get a second chance to make a first impression. If they wanted to impress music lovers then that should have researched what already existed and given them something that was better than other products on the market. If they wanted a smart speaker then they should have gotten to market before their competitors had taken 90% of that market. Everyone is mentioning how you can access them by using an Alexa. No one is talking about Siri, except derisively. I already mentioned that I don't want a marketing spy in my house, so I won't be buying Alexa myself, but Apple needs to quit half competing, either fish or cut bait. Make a better sound system that's easy to use and hook up and compatible with other vendors products, or make a smart system that is price competitive and accurate. I think the smart system ship has sailed, and Apple isn't on it. So make a music system that can BE a music system.

 

[trifid]

Apple makes about 20% profit. Here in the US, corporations are allowed to set their own prices for consumer electronics. Typically, that means “what the market will bear”.

Wait.. I thought Apple had about 38-40% profit margins, where does the 20% come from? https://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/gross_profit_margin

 

[RickGrimes]

I'm sorry but if the HomePod is the best sounding speaker you've ever owned, you know nothing about solid Hi-Fi systems. I have a set of Acoustat Model 3's that would blow your mind. HomePod is straight garbage in the world of Hi-Fi. Spare me the...but, but, but, HomePod is portable and has Siri speech.

Glad you like them, talk about overpriced. But I do not believe for a minute they would blown my mind. In a blind test I bet you would pick the HomePod.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Wait.. I thought Apple had about 38-40% profit margins, where does the 20% come from? https://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/gross_profit_margin

Good question! That 38% is gross profit margin, which is gross profit (sales minus cost of sales) compared to revenue. Although that does include component, assembly and some other costs, it does not include operating expenses such as G&A (overhead), marketing, R&D or taxes. A quick look at a recent income statement will help illustrate this:

Gross profit (in dollars) is $62.900 billion minus 38.816 billion, or $24.084 billion. The ratio between 24.084 and 62.900 is gross profit margin, so 24.084 divided by 62.900 is about 0.383, or 38.3%.

But operating costs and income taxes still need to be subtracted out to calculate Apple’s actual (net) profit. They spent almost $8 billion on operating expenses and about $2 billion on taxes. So they netted $14.125 billion after all expenses are accounted for, on sales of $62.9 billion. 14.125/62.9 equals approx. 22.5% profit margin for this particular quarter. So Apple pocketed about 22.5 cents from every dollar of sales. That’s about $78 on a $349 HomePod, assuming HomePod has average margins.

 

[cinq2]

299$ is stil expensive yet still another (small) step towards the right direction. Keep up with no new purchases people!

I never get why people complain about it. Works perfectly for me but then again I speak correctly

And with the ability to add custom commands with workflow it's fantastic.

Custom commands with workflow? That sounds interesting! Like what?

 

[punterab80]

Sorry, I've no interest of having microphones that are listening to me all the time, hence the reason I disable Siri on my phone and my computer.

The mics are not listening to everything you say , they are only listening for the key words
“Hey Siri” .
[doublepost=1554436795][/doublepost]

Thats nothing, in Hong Kong its $2,399!!!
[doublepost=1554419019][/doublepost]
€271.90 is $305. That’s only $6 more than we pay in the states.

At €349, it was already lower priced at $324, compared to $349 in the US, so it got a smaller discount.

The same thing happened in Canada, it was less than the US price before today’s price cut, now it is exactly the same at $299.

Technically, with the conversion but it is still $ 399 in Canada and 400 hundred bucks means the same to me as $400 bucks would mean to you. Although I paid full retail and I still think it’s a great speaker. I wish it was $299 but if it was, apple would have to take the hit with the conversion, so I guess that will never happen.
[doublepost=1554437925][/doublepost]

Still hideously overpriced and uncompetitive against Google and Amazon. It’s all iPhones, iPads and MacBooks in my house but I’m not paying 300 quid for a speaker when I can get 3 Echoes and still have change.

I’d still rather have one HomePod . Echos don’t sound near as good , google only comes close, in sound quality, with the “Max” but that thing is giant and uglier than a bread box. The audio tech packed into these things is amazing. They are well worth it to me. ( I have 2 and paid full price).
[doublepost=1554438021][/doublepost]

People who care about sound quality would never consider Apple. No. Just no. Sonos, Bose, and the king of sound: Google. Have you seen how small a HomePod is? Can’t generate good sound. Fact.

Really? Have you actually listened to one?