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

[christophermdia]

Another $150 off and they will reach an acceptable price point ... truth is I rather have a ******** sounding Alexa speaker than a good (not great) sounding Siri speaker ...

 

[I7guy]

I think price does have a lot to do with it when the HomePod is more than triple the price of the Echo. I’ve got three myself and one thing is clear and Amazon are way ahead of Apple with voice recognition. I get far less issues than I do with Siri on my iPhone or Apple Watch. I think Apple were late to the market and the price just hasn’t worked due to being uncompetitive.

The Echo was one of the top selling Christmas presents of the last couple of years and I seriously doubt it would have been as popular if priced at £300-350.

Our echo just sits in a corner, unplugged as I don’t want it listening. I have no idea what to do with it, can’t figure out how it enhances my life or makes it easier. Just one more thing I have to figure out in an already busy life. Ymmv.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Our echo just sits in a corner, unplugged as I don’t want it listening. I have no idea what to do with it, can’t figure out how it enhances my life or makes it easier. Just one more thing I have to figure out in an already busy life. Ymmv.

That sort of product is useless to you then much like any other smart assistant. They are much the same, just Apples is hideously expensive compared to its rivals.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

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).

That’s the beauty of choice. I would hope they do sound better at over three times the price. The Echo is perfectly adequate to those of us not studying or comparing and the price means I can have more than one which is good for entertaining friends. If the HomePod was stand out brilliant in its class then we wouldn’t be discussing this as iPhone owners and Amazon and Google wouldn’t be enjoying the market dominance they share.

 

[vipergts2207]

Android users and pretty much everyone else says the same thing about Apple.

That’s because they’re Android fanboys. On the other hand, it’s been documented that Bose makes overpriced garbage.

https://www.quora.com/Why-has-no-on...ncy-graph-How-can-one-produce-Bose-like-sound

 

[I7guy]

That sort of product is useless to you then much like any other smart assistant. They are much the same, just Apples is hideously expensive compared to its rivals.

Except, now that I have an apple music subscription, courtesy of VZW, I could use the dang expensive speaker as a dumb speaker to stream my apple music without interacting with it. Of course I could also do the same with $10 bluetooth speakers, but it probably wouldn't sound the same.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Except, now that I have an apple music subscription, courtesy of VZW, I could use the dang expensive speaker as a dumb speaker to stream my apple music without interacting with it. Of course I could also do the same with $10 bluetooth speakers, but it probably wouldn't sound the same.

I know Apple Music has come to the Echo but I already have Amazon music as part of my Prime package so it doesn’t appeal to me. It’s nice to be able to control music from your iPhone and with 3 Echos I sync it between rooms so the sound is pretty good. Whatever works but I doubt any of these smart assistants are hardly or time consuming to work out, even my 2 year old can work it.

 

[I7guy]

I know Apple Music has come to the Echo but I already have Amazon music as part of my Prime package so it doesn’t appeal to me. It’s nice to be able to control music from your iPhone and with 3 Echos I sync it between rooms so the sound is pretty good. Whatever works but I doubt any of these smart assistants are hardly or time consuming to work out, even my 2 year old can work it.

I have sirius xm sat and internet, now apple music. We have prime, so I assume there is some music subscription as well. Sirius has it nailed as far as music for me (although it's compressed) and I'm willing to try AM and see how I like it.

Maybe interacting with smart assistants is the new way, but I find it incredibly annoying and as such don't use google, alexa or siri. I think the homepod has better sound quality than alexa and with airplay 2, the stereo setup sounds amazing, if not expensive.

As I said before, Apple has to open up Homepod. It's incredibly locked down, even for them.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I have sirius xm sat and internet, now apple music. We have prime, so I assume there is some music subscription as well. Sirius has it nailed as far as music for me (although it's compressed) and I'm willing to try AM and see how I like it.

Maybe interacting with smart assistants is the new way, but I find it incredibly annoying and as such don't use google, alexa or siri. I think the homepod has better sound quality than alexa and with airplay 2, the stereo setup sounds amazing, if not expensive.

As I said before, Apple has to open up Homepod. It's incredibly locked down, even for them.

I like Sirius too, but it would be nice to have higher quality sound.

 

[Baymowe335]

And more signs that people do not like anymore Apple's overpricing products anymore.
I guess Apple greedy pricing is not flying anymore.

A fair competitive price would be $190.00 NOT $299.00
Especially when Siri is horrendous.

Still way overpriced when you can get Alexa for $125.00-$149.00
[doublepost=1554476607][/doublepost]

It was late to the party and way overpriced. In addition, Siri is terrible. So way pay for something that is more expensive that actually works worse?

Was it the $20B in profit last quarter that tipped you off to people not liking Apple products anymore? Or the fact HomePod has been out 14 months and Apple dropped the price a mere $50?

 

[kis]

If you want plastic junk with below average sound quality, get an echo or a google.


[doublepost=1554383674][/doublepost]It’s a high quality premium speaker. Want to link to a high quality speaker that does what this does at a cheaper price?

You can get two echos and a sub for the price of one HomePod. Or a google home and a chrome cast enabled speaker for less.

 

[kis]

It’s pretty clear that Apple has never been very serious with the HomePod. After all, 14 months after its release, it’s still only available in a select few countries, while google home and amazon Alexa are omnipresent, almost globally.

 

[Tech198]

Usually, i say price drops are usually in line with not selling enough. Wasan't there a period where Homepod didn't do well as Apple hoped?

By dropping the price, could encouraged more to buy, but also "make it available in other countries as well"

 

[gigaguy]

Marketing this as a smart speaker makes people confused as to the real value of this speaker, the sound. The smart functions are a drawback, give me a remote and real inputs. I got my 2 heavily discounted, love them.

 

[dotzero123]

I love apple and would love to have my home product in the ecosystem. I'd do it if their price wasn't 2-3X the competition. Until then, will wait it out with Alexa. Unless Alexa wants to record me eating breakfast I've got no real issue with what it might share. The device can't figure out the weather 1/2 the time so I'm pretty sure my secrets are safe.

 

[punterab80]

I do understand what the conversion rate means in each currency. I guess it is just jealousy when I see that in the US they pay $300 and I have to pay $400. What I mean is it is much harder for me to part with $400 than it is for you to part with only $300. Ya it sure would be nice to only pay 300, but sadly doesn’t work like that.

“2 to 3 times the competition “. Alexa and google home are not the competition for a speaker of this sound quality. Sonos One maybe....Google Home Max is the only thing from google that even comes close. Nothing from Amazon sounds as good as a HomePod. So I think people comparing this to cheap little smart speakers isn’t really a fair comparison. I think they are properly priced. Maybe Apple just needs a cheap smart speaker that sounds like crap and people will eat it up.

No, 533 (Canadian) bucks to you means the same as 400 (US) bucks does to me. Exchange rates are not just a technicality

I mean, yeah it’s CAD$399 but if your Apple store asked you to pay USD$399 you would not be happy.

Similarly, wouldn’t it be nice if you could pay the $299 price from the US Apple Store with 299 Canadian dollars?

CAD$399=USD$299[/QUOTE

We will find out about their "greed" at the next earnings call. My guess, that statement will be proven false. Having said that the problem with the homepod is the lack of openess. Not the price. The speakers themselves sound great. And Siri is not "horrendous" as claimed in the post. Alexa is not worth it, at least to me.

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.

I don't even regret buying the HomePod (paid 269GBP on ebay)
The sound is truly awesome. And the bass, oh that bass. (Expensive but) Great product by Apple.

I love apple and would love to have my home product in the ecosystem. I'd do it if their price wasn't 2-3X the competition. Until then, will wait it out with Alexa. Unless Alexa wants to record me eating breakfast I've got no real issue with what it might share. The device can't figure out the weather 1/2 the time so I'm pretty sure my secrets are safe.

 

[curtvaughan]

You never speak in the computer room. Friends never enter it? You don’t use Skype or FaceTime? You don’t think aloud?

Rarely do I speak in my computer room, and when I do it is usually of casual content. If, for some reason, I am speaking of private or business matters, I'll unplug the Echo, which sits about 3 feet from where I sit. When or if I am in some sort of serious discussion, where I value privacy, I likely won't be listening to the Echo - it would be a distraction from my discussion to have it making sound - so simple to unplug it.

 

[Prof.]

So you picked it up at $249 then.

That is still $249.

Meh

Didn’t even know I had rewards, so it was still a nice surprise at checkout. Free money.

 

[Shanghaichica]

It’s pretty clear that Apple has never been very serious with the HomePod. After all, 14 months after its release, it’s still only available in a select few countries, while google home and amazon Alexa are omnipresent, almost globally.

It took years before the echo was available in so many countries.

 

[4jasontv]

Rarely do I speak in my computer room, and when I do it is usually of casual content. If, for some reason, I am speaking of private or business matters, I'll unplug the Echo, which sits about 3 feet from where I sit. When or if I am in some sort of serious discussion, where I value privacy, I likely won't be listening to the Echo - it would be a distraction from my discussion to have it making sound - so simple to unplug it.

You only value privacy in select geographic spaces? Or times? The point of a digital assistant is to be available all the time. Unplugging it and plugging it back in defeats it’s purpose.

 

[burgman]

You only value privacy in select geographic spaces? Or times? The point of a digital assistant is to be available all the time. Unplugging it and plugging it back in defeats it’s purpose.

Nuance in conversation privacy escapes you? Nothing to do with space or time, just content.
[doublepost=1554663766][/doublepost]

That sort of product is useless to you then much like any other smart assistant. They are much the same, just Apples is hideously expensive compared to its rivals.

Owning two HomePods’ for music first, your statement is, like many here, rather ridiculous.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Owning two HomePods’ for music first, your statement is, like many here, rather ridiculous.

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[44267547]

You can't have a somewhat balanced sound output from a single speaker inside a room .

So I take it you're obviously not informed of the HomePod based off this incorrect statement?

Direct from Apple:

“A custom-designed array of seven beamforming tweeters, each with its own amplifier, creates tremendous directional control. Placed around the base and using a folded-horn design, they send the flow of music toward the center and then out the bottom in a 360-degree pattern, resulting in an all-encompassing sense of space. This virtually eliminates early table reflections and allows for consistent high-definition sound.”

 

[Peperino]

Was it the $20B in profit last quarter that tipped you off to people not liking Apple products anymore? Or the fact HomePod has been out 14 months and Apple dropped the price a mere $50?

Dell, HP and Lenovo, also have a lot of sales, which does not mean they create great products.
Actually last quarter, Apple actually was below its own guidance, both Macsales and Ipads have declined.
Please tell me if they are doing so good, why they have been discounting iphones all over the world (China, Japan and India). Apple usually does NOT discount its products.
So if they are dropping down the price (which $50.00 drop is quite of a Joke) it means either they are not selling as expected, the product is overpriced, or both. Why do you think Apple is NOT disclosing sales by unit numbers anymore?

 

[ErikGrim]

I bought one for $50 off from Target. Love the sound but it is even more limited than I was expecting. I wanted to airplay Peloton workouts to my apple TV and use homepod for sound-- it can't be done.

Huh? Select HomePods as the audio out on the Apple TV. Then AirPlay to the Apple TV. How does that not work?
[doublepost=1554684700][/doublepost]

You know what; fair enough.

We don't see this enough on these forums.
[doublepost=1554684751][/doublepost]

No flac playback = no purchase.

Just convert your FLACs to ALAC?
[doublepost=1554684803][/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.

What?