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

[Burger Thing]

So after the price of the HomePod was reduced, i bought a unit yesterday. To be honest, my driving force was not price but curiosity. Especially after reading about the relatively great sound quality and the claims by so called/ self proclaimed experts that it is not a mono speaker.

Here is my take: the sound quality is for the price point average at best. Mushy, over controlling bass, not too different to a Bose system. But it sounds exactly like what it is: LIKE A MONO SPEAKER. If you are impressed with the mushy bass, mono like sound stage, then a Bose Companion 20 would explode your head

But I don’t feel upset that I spent the money. In fact I have to laugh about the glowing reviews (the usual marketing / influencer BS) and the ridiculous fanboy drivel here. And if you really believe that this thing can compete to a more serious stereo setup, then I have good news for you: Easter Bunny is coming next week!

 

[4jasontv]

Yeah, multiply that for 24 / 7 and for million of users, who is gonna read / listen to all that, and for what purpose?

I mean it is ridiculous.

Just a quick math, as it is claimed there are at least 56 million smart home devices sold in 2018 (Research Firm Canalys is predicting 56.3 million smart speaker sales in 2018 worldwide. That will be up from an estimated 33 million units shipped in 2017) plus the 33 million in 2017 we have a rough estimate of 89 million devices, now some are replacement so let's say we have 65-70 million devices to hear / transcript.

And even so, they spend that much money to gain what? potential advertizement possiblities? Guess what, an ad agency could do much more for much less!

Picking the lower end 65 million let's say it takes 10 second a user for a complete day of audit transcript by a computer (wich by iself it is impossible as 10 seconds to transcript 24 hours...) now, 10 seconds + 65 million user is 650.000.000 seconds, divide that by 3600 secs (1 hours) is 180.555 hours... , now do that for each day of the year, and even a tiny 100 k file for each user is HUGE and 65 million files a day for a year is 23.725.000.000 files! Simply impossible to hear / trasnscript everyone 24/7.

And those number are gonna grow exponentially as more devices wil be bought and userbase will only grow for the next decade.

And that is smart speaker only, now count phones, watches, smart tv, and other smart things with a mic.... IMPOSSIBLE.

You aren’t hearing me. They already do it and you can view your own data. Stop trying to explain why something that is happening can’t happen.

 

[Baymowe335]

It does not matter how much they sell.
Sorry but the excuse that apple selling premium products was over long time ago. That might have worke 4 years ago.
The macbook 2016+ are a complete joke both on design and quality. So much so they got a class action lawsuit for the keyboard.
Mac Pro another failure. Still waiting after 6 years. Mac Mini, using the same pathetic old case that creates heating issues and over 70% more expensive.

I wonder way they lower iphone prices in Japan, China and India.
[doublepost=1554789865][/doublepost]

The sound quality is not worth the the cost of almost 150%.
For 350 I can get basic pro quality speakers.

Yes, it matters. Your anecdotal opinion doesn’t erase $60B in profits.

 

[YaBe]

You aren’t hearing me. They already do it and you can view your own data. Stop trying to explain why something that is happening can’t happen.

OOOOOOOOK tin foil hat mode on, thank you!

Somebody call the police, I can see my own data!

"Turn on light"
"turn off light"
"turn on heater"
"turn off heater"
"turn on lights"

Wow so much sensible data they are getting and recording... ya not like 24/7 listening pal!

You are not hearing, they do not track 24/7 what you say, only command you gave...so totally a different story (I would be afraid IF they could hear 24/7 but then again, I need proof that is happening and the reason why, not some made up story).

They are reading I turned on the light? Big woop... hey let me tell you something, I just turned my heater off, that is, if you care about it.

Now would you want me to message you every time i do something? how long before you get bored reading about it?

Bing, "I turned the outside light On"
Bing, "I asked the weather for tomorrow"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bored yet? ...you get the point

 

[JOBS-3:16]

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.

Overpriced? You have no idea what I paid for these, however I will tell you. I picked them up in mint condition for only $300 a piece more than a HomePod, and that's for a pair of the arguably one of the best electrostatic speakers ever made. Good luck finding a set of these in mint condition, I honestly got lucky. I've already done a blind test, with my friends HomePod, and the HomePod wasn't even close to being on the level of the Acoustat's. If you understand and have a good ear for high end Hi-Fi, you'd never mistake these two.

 

[Peperino]

Yes, it matters. Your anecdotal opinion doesn’t erase $60B in profits.

It is not annecdotal. It is a fact.
The profits have been made with iPhones and services. Not with computers or homepods.
Actually quarter over quarter Mac sales and ipads were down.
The entire computer line up is outdated overpriced and lack innovation.
Upgrade cycles 4 to 6 years.
Those are facts not annecdotes.

 

[Baymowe335]

It is not annecdotal. It is a fact.
The profits have been made with iPhones and services. Not with computers or homepods.
Actually quarter over quarter Mac sales and ipads were down.
The entire computer line up is outdated overpriced and lack innovation.
Upgrade cycles 4 to 6 years.
Those are facts not annecdotes.

Q/Q is not relevant, due to the seasonality of Apple's business. You can't compare the Xmas quarter to the prior quarter, obviously.

Y/Y (both Q1 in their respective years), Mac and iPad made record revenues. Would you like me to post the financials? Here you go:

Product: Q12018/Q12019
Mac: $6.8B / $7.4B (up 9%)
iPad: 5.7B / 6.7B (up 18%)
Serv: $9.1B / $10.8B (up 19%)
Wearables/Home: $5.4B / $7.3B (up 36%)

Computers are moving to mobile...sorry. The Mac line is still a huge business, just not as big as iPhone, and Services but STILL bigger than iPad. HomePod is not broken out, so you're speculating on any kind of success or failure it has, but home/wearables were up 36% y/y.

Thanks for playing, but try to know the numbers before quoting me.

 

[I7guy]

Overpriced? You have no idea what I paid for these, however I will tell you. I picked them up in mint condition for only $300 a piece more than a HomePod, and that's for a pair of the arguably one of the best electrostatic speakers ever made. Good luck finding a set of these in mint condition, I honestly got lucky. I've already done a blind test, with my friends HomePod, and the HomePod wasn't even close to being on the level of the Acoustat's. If you understand and have a good ear for high end Hi-Fi, you'd never mistake these two.

The post is a little disingenuous (as you already said). It’s great you got the deal of a lifetime but comparing speakers with a disparate msrp and target demographic doesn’t do either one justice. But sometimes convenience trumps specs.

 

[Peperino]

Computers are moving to mobile...sorry. The Mac line is still a huge business, just not as big as iPhone, and Services but STILL bigger than iPad. HomePod is not broken out, so you're speculating on any kind of success or failure it has, but home/wearables were up 36% y/y.

Thanks for playing, but try to know the numbers before quoting me.

Don't post revenues. How about you post the unit sales by numbers?
Why do you think Apple is NOT reporting unit numbers sales anymore?
The only reason revenues are up, is because they are massively increasing product pricing and the services.
And by the way, that Apple is having 60B in revenues, that does not mean they are creating great products or innovating. The only innovation in the past 5 years have been the Watch.
The rest, just internal upgrades. It is pathetic that takes a company 4-6 years to upgrade a product.
I guess you are the one that considers innovation Emojis and Wrist bands

 

[Shanghaichica]

Don't post revenues. How about you post the unit sales by numbers?
Why do you think Apple is NOT reporting unit numbers sales anymore?
The only reason revenues are up, is because they are massively increasing product pricing and the services.
And by the way, that Apple is having 60B in revenues, that does not mean they are creating great products or innovating. The only innovation in the past 5 years have been the Watch.
The rest, just internal upgrades. It is pathetic that takes a company 4-6 years to upgrade a product.
I guess you are the one that considers innovation Emojis and Wrist bands

Tablet sales are down across the board. Computers have been in decline for years.

 

[Baymowe335]

Don't post revenues. How about you post the unit sales by numbers?
Why do you think Apple is NOT reporting unit numbers sales anymore?
The only reason revenues are up, is because they are massively increasing product pricing and the services.
And by the way, that Apple is having 60B in revenues, that does not mean they are creating great products or innovating. The only innovation in the past 5 years have been the Watch.
The rest, just internal upgrades. It is pathetic that takes a company 4-6 years to upgrade a product.
I guess you are the one that considers innovation Emojis and Wrist bands

Wrong, yet again.

Not $60B in revenue, $60B in PROFIT. It's $266B in revenue.

You ignoring the innovation doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

ApplePay, Silicon, customer chips, AirPods, FaceID, Watch, iPad, ALL have their own innovation. I mean, name a better tablet. Features are not innovation.

Unit sales reporting is meaningless with mature products. People keep their Apple products longer because they last and they are happy. Show me data that people have switched? Here is data they haven't...1.4B active devices UP from 1.3B in the prior year. That's 100M device growth in 12 months. People keep their Apple products and buy more.

You're just salty the Mac hasn't been updated to your liking, but fail to recognize the movement into mobile and device usability making upgrades on Mac less important. Setting revenue records ARE indication the strategy is working brilliantly. Raising prices on mature products that are still in demand is the correct way to manage a product line, shown by the results.

 

[JOBS-3:16]

The post is a little disingenuous (as you already said). It’s great you got the deal of a lifetime but comparing speakers with a disparate msrp and target demographic doesn’t do either one justice. But sometimes convenience trumps specs.

I wasn't comparing my speakers to other speakers in the $300 range, I was comparing them to another persons post which stated that the HomePods where the best sounding speakers they've ever owned.

 

[bbednarz]

Don't post revenues. How about you post the unit sales by numbers?
Why do you think Apple is NOT reporting unit numbers sales anymore?
The only reason revenues are up, is because they are massively increasing product pricing and the services.
And by the way, that Apple is having 60B in revenues, that does not mean they are creating great products or innovating. The only innovation in the past 5 years have been the Watch.
The rest, just internal upgrades. It is pathetic that takes a company 4-6 years to upgrade a product.
I guess you are the one that considers innovation Emojis and Wrist bands

Face ID I would say is a pretty large innovation. AirPods too. I think the HUGE jump in processing power of the A12 compared to the A11 is also quite innovative.

What other company has done something you consider "innovative" in the last 5 years?

The fact of the matter is that tech has kind of peaked in a way. There is still a lot that can be done, but the technology isn't ready yet. Gone are the days of huge upgrades from year to year. The next "big" product will likely be glasses, but the technology isn't available yet to make that happen.

Also, can we stop with the emoji/watch band nonsense? Should Apple just stop supporting emoji? Should they just stop making watch bands? Both are idiotic ideas.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Yes, it matters. Your anecdotal opinion doesn’t erase $60B in profits.

A $60b profit also doesn’t mean every product they offer is market leading though. I don’t get this profit argument to determine whether a certain product is good value or more popular? Apple make a lot of money, but with any market there is choice and the HomePod is not the most popular smart assistant out there, much like the XS isn’t the most popular iPhone. Popularity is judged in many factors, not the profit a company makes from everything they sell across their varying markets.

 

[4jasontv]

OOOOOOOOK tin foil hat mode on, thank you!

Somebody call the police, I can see my own data!

"Turn on light"
"turn off light"
"turn on heater"
"turn off heater"
"turn on lights"

Wow so much sensible data they are getting and recording... ya not like 24/7 listening pal!

You are not hearing, they do not track 24/7 what you say, only command you gave...so totally a different story (I would be afraid IF they could hear 24/7 but then again, I need proof that is happening and the reason why, not some made up story).

They are reading I turned on the light? Big woop... hey let me tell you something, I just turned my heater off, that is, if you care about it.

Now would you want me to message you every time i do something? how long before you get bored reading about it?

Bing, "I turned the outside light On"
Bing, "I asked the weather for tomorrow"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bing, "insert question here"
Bored yet? ...you get the point

Eye roll.

 

[Baymowe335]

A $60b profit also doesn’t mean every product they offer is market leading though. I don’t get this profit argument to determine whether a certain product is good value or more popular? Apple make a lot of money, but with any market there is choice and the HomePod is not the most popular smart assistant out there, much like the XS isn’t the most popular iPhone. Popularity is judged in many factors, not the profit a company makes from everything they sell across their varying markets.

Dollars vote. A purchase of a HomePod is not a 1 for 1 with the purchase of an Echo.

At the end of the day, people vote with their wallets. If I spend $25 on a piece of junk from Amazon, I might not care if it eventually collects dust and works like crap. Hell, I only spent $25. If I buy a HomePod, I will be more careful as I don't want to waste $349.

Dollars are a much more accurate way to measure how much people value things. You can't really compare unit sales of items that aren't at least similar in terms of cost. It's silly to compare unit sales of HomePod to Echo, just as it would be to compare unit sales of Ferraris to Kias. Both cars, very different products.

 

[Tucom]

I was thinking of buying one of these as a standalone subwoofer for my Klipsch floor standers with dual 8"s it has already.

How's the bass performance on these things?

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Dollars vote. A purchase of a HomePod is not a 1 for 1 with the purchase of an Echo.

At the end of the day, people vote with their wallets. If I spend $25 on a piece of junk from Amazon, I might not care if it eventually collects dust and works like crap. Hell, I only spent $25. If I buy a HomePod, I will be more careful as I don't want to waste $349.

Dollars are a much more accurate way to measure how much people value things. You can't really compare unit sales of items that aren't at least similar in terms of cost. It's silly to compare unit sales of HomePod to Echo, just as it would be to compare unit sales of Ferraris to Kias. Both cars, very different products.

I can compare an echo to a HomePod because they are smart assistants competing for consumers votes. Whether you pay £64 for Amazons junk or £349 for Apples junk you have bought a product from that market and won’t be purchasing both items most likely.

If Apple want to be the ‘Ferrari’ of the smart assistant market then fair enough, but like the iPhone XS I’m sure they’d rather as many people as possible are buying the product and not have it superseded by the cheaper alternatives. I doubt they will just be happy with selling a fifth of a similar product but look purely at profit for the short term. Apple aren’t offering 8 different price tier HomePods like they do with their iPhone range. If they did, they could prevent it being judged on one particular model and hide behind the popularity of an entire range.

You are right that people vote with their wallets, and in the world of smart assistants Apple are third currently behind Google and Amazon. They were late to the market and delivered a product that was lacking initially, restrictive and considerably more expensive. If the HomePod was compelling over the competition then it would be a no brainer every iPhone user. Popularity keeps products alive at the end of the day and this is just as much of an incentive from an R&D point of view as profit.

 

[Baymowe335]

I can compare an echo to a HomePod because they are smart assistants competing for consumers votes. Whether you pay £64 for Amazons junk or £349 for Apples junk you have bought a product from that market and won’t be purchasing both items most likely.

If Apple want to be the ‘Ferrari’ of the smart assistant market then fair enough, but like the iPhone XS I’m sure they’d rather as many people as possible are buying the product and not have it superseded by the cheaper alternatives. I doubt they will just be happy with selling a fifth of a similar product but look purely at profit for the short term. Apple aren’t offering 8 different price tier HomePods like they do with their iPhone range. If they did, they could prevent it being judged on one particular model and hide behind the popularity of an entire range.

You are right that people vote with their wallets, and in the world of smart assistants Apple are third currently behind Google and Amazon. They were late to the market and delivered a product that was lacking initially, restrictive and considerably more expensive. If the HomePod was compelling over the competition then it would be a no brainer every iPhone user. Popularity keeps products alive at the end of the day and this is just as much of an incentive from an R&D point of view as profit.

Not really. HomePod is a great sounding speaker with a smart assistant. Echo is spyware for your home that sounds terrible and tries to learn about your buying habits. Totally different products.

More revenue = more votes with dollars.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Not really. HomePod is a great sounding speaker with a smart assistant. Echo is spyware for your home that sounds terrible and tries to learn about your buying habits. Totally different products.

More revenue = more votes with dollars.

Sound quality is subjective and if something sounds fine at a fraction of the price then it’s makes little difference. If you’re a consumer obsessing about sound quality then you’re not going to buy a smart assistant in the first place and will invest in a decent sound system. Cost doesn’t always determine sound quality either and AirPods are a good example of that.

Your maths is incorrect too. If Apple sell a third of the amount of HomePods that Amazon sell Echos which are a third of the price, it’s three times less popular despite making the same amount of revenue lol.

 

[Baymowe335]

Sound quality is subjective and if something sounds fine at a fraction of the price then it’s makes little difference. If you’re a consumer obsessing about sound quality then you’re not going to buy a smart assistant in the first place and will invest in a decent sound system. Cost doesn’t always determine sound quality either and AirPods are a good example of that.

Your maths is incorrect too. If Apple sell a third of the amount of HomePods that Amazon sell Echos which are a third of the price, it’s three times less popular despite making the same amount of revenue lol.

Echo being worse than HomePod in sound quality is not subjective.

I didn't do any math. Apple's strategy isn't about gaining the most market share. If it were, they'd license iOS and sell products at low margins.

 

[I7guy]

So after the price of the HomePod was reduced, i bought a unit yesterday. To be honest, my driving force was not price but curiosity. Especially after reading about the relatively great sound quality and the claims by so called/ self proclaimed experts that it is not a mono speaker.

Here is my take: the sound quality is for the price point average at best. Mushy, over controlling bass, not too different to a Bose system. But it sounds exactly like what it is: LIKE A MONO SPEAKER. If you are impressed with the mushy bass, mono like sound stage, then a Bose Companion 20 would explode your head

But I don’t feel upset that I spent the money. In fact I have to laugh about the glowing reviews (the usual marketing / influencer BS) and the ridiculous fanboy drivel here. And if you really believe that this thing can compete to a more serious stereo setup, then I have good news for you: Easter Bunny is coming next week!

People have their own opinions about the sound quality. I played around with a pair in a very quiet apple store after it first opened and the pair sounded fantastic. No, they are not better than a serious sound setup, but in my own opinion they are better than average. But we probably each have our own definition of what average means.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Echo being worse than HomePod in sound quality is not subjective.

I didn't do any math. Apple's strategy isn't about gaining the most market share. If it were, they'd license iOS and sell products at low margins.

It’s subjective when you’ve been claiming the Echo is ‘junk’ and rubbish when it clearly isn’t. That’s just having a dig without proper experience of the product. I’m not saying it’s as good as the HomePod but the quality is plenty good enough for listening to music around the home.

So Apple want to be super niche and aren’t bothered that existing Apple customers are buying from Amazon and Google? I don’t believe that for a second and lowering the price is not usually Apples style either. My guess is we’ll see a cheaper version of the HomePod coming very soon, much like they did with the iPhone as they knew the X wasn’t going to satisfy the entire market.

 

[ErikGrim]

At the end of the day the HomePod, the Echo and the google home products all compete for the same part of the market, for those who want a smart assistant.

First of all no. Secondly the utility of a smart assistant in a box is extremely limited. Outside of playing music - where it is fantastic, and controlling your smart home stuff (great), it's all just variations of setting timers and adding stuff to your shopping list. It's all very nice to have, but not exactly a must.

And that is exactly why it's not the same market at all. The smart assistant is just a means to control an excellent speaker.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

First of all no. Secondly the utility of a smart assistant in a box is extremely limited. Outside of playing music - where it is fantastic, and controlling your smart home stuff (great), it's all just variations of setting timers and adding stuff to your shopping list. It's all very nice to have, but not exactly a must.

And that is exactly why it's not the same market at all. The smart assistant is just a means to control an excellent speaker.

I think that’s why the Echo and Google Home have been popular. They hit the market first and were affordable enough for people to give them a try. The HomePod is an investment more so and is more proprietary to Apple whereas it’s competition is multi platform. Then again it’s been suggested Apple don’t want it to sell to every Apple customer anyway and would be happy with it being niche, but I’m not sure I’d agree with that.