Apple Remains 'Largely Absent' in U.S. Smart Speaker Market

[huge_apple_fangirl]

Apple’s whole MO is to only enter markets where they can contribute something unique- and high-margin. Cheap corporate spyware you plant around your home clashes with Apple’s corporate identity so badly I wonder why they ever felt a need to release a product like this. I suspect HomePod was meant to be a high-end speaker and they slapped Siri on last minute to compete with Google and Amazon, thinking smart speakers might be “the next big thing”. They were clearly wrong. I think Apple should focus on the HomeKit standard which integrates with all your Apple devices, and let partners fill in the low-margin stuff. With Matter and allowing Siri to be routed through other speakers I think they’re headed in this direction but it still requires a HomePod, which is a mistake. Scrap HomePod completely and let iPhone be the center of your smart home, or maybe Apple TV. No need for a “smart” speaker.

 

[Bawstun]

That’s because Siri isn’t very smart compared to Google and Alexa.

That’s an understatement, lol.

It’s shockingly bad.

 

[MacBH928]

can't sell a speaker...proceeds to build a self-driving car.

 

[yabeweb]

The issue is not the software, that can be fixed, it is the hardware.

As I said earlier not putting a Line in was a HUGE mistake, because as it is now, when / if Apple decides that the next iOS (not next as next year but a future release) stop supporting the HP, it will become an expensive paperweight.

With line in at least, you'd be able to use it as a speaker.

So Apple made the mistake of making the HP so close in its walled garden that it is basically usuable for a fixed amount of time (like a timebomb).

 

[Steve121178]

Hardly surprising.

Google & Amazon's smart speakers don't care what platform you are tied to and works incredibly well with anything you ask it to do. They also have a smart speaker for any budget and often have heavy discounts which allows people to have multiple speakers in their homes for an affordable price.

HomePod is tied to a variation of tvOS (or was) and Siri, and doesn't even work well with Siri. Siri is a sick joke compared to the digital assistance on Google & Amazon's speakers.

Apple have missed the boat with smart speakers.

 

[400]

If they did a dumb DAB/FM radio with internet options, basic integration with a known few years of OS upgrades but leave the radio as a dead cert past OS no longer supported, I might. If the price were right.

 

[Muzzakus]

Too late, apples incompetent AI means smart speaker market is dominated by the competition

 

[Abazigal]

when / if Apple decides that the next iOS (not next as next year but a future release) stop supporting the HP, it will become an expensive paperweight.

To be fair, my 3rd-gen Apple TV hasn't been supported in years, and my iPad can still mirror to it flawlessly.

It's possible that in the same vein, even when the HomePod stops getting software updates, it can still be used to stream music. But I agree that I don't like it essentially living on borrowed time, and I have no idea when the next iOS update may just break compatibility with my Apple TV.

 

[LightSwitch]

i love apple products but Siri is frustrating. Always saying ‘here is what I found on the web’ and never attempting to read out an answer properly - eg on Apple Watch. Alexa and Google always way better.

 

[iterva]

i love apple products but Siri is frustrating. Always saying ‘here is what I found on the web’ and never attempting to read out an answer properly - eg on Apple Watch. Alexa and Google always way better.

This is also my experience with Siri >90% of the time...Frustration that is. Only thing I use Siri for is timers.

 

[Swetsenegger]

Not that strange. The speaker is neither fish nor fowl.

The original HomePod had real good sound quality but was way to expensive and the new HomePod doesn’t have that good sound quality compared to competitors. Combined with the fact Siri lacks some intelligence compared to competitors it is neither a good smart speaker nor a good wireless speaker (like the old Sonos play:1).

imho they should create a speaker in between the current model and the old model at 129 or 159 for a single model and 249 or 299 a stereo set. I would buy it in an instance.

 

[andreyush]

Can anyone tell me specifically what alexa and google assistant can do and Siri can’t? I see everyone praising them two but I m really curious why.

 

[Digital Dude]

That’s because Siri isn’t very smart compared to Google and Alexa.

I agree with you. I have 10 original HomePods scattered around my place. Two are paired to my Sony TV A90J and they sound great. I also have 3 Google Home Hubs; 2 newer Small, and 1 Large. The weakest link with the HomePods is exceptionally crappy software. Sometimes they work great, and other times they are useless. After nearly a year of side-by-side of use, I prefer asking Google Assistant (GA) for information. Siri will occasionally refer me to read the answer on my iPhone whereby Google will answer directly.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I love my HomePod as a speaker (the mini is lacking), but Siri is complete garbage going into 2022… this is killing Apple.

 

[RoboCop001]

It is - people just like to use that excuse to pardon apple's poor AI product.

An AI being able to hear and interpret complex answers is a different skill than an AI being intuitive and proactive.

I wonder what the holdup is on making Siri smarter. It's a shame it's behind in this sense, because an AI assistant should be able to answer random questions (to a reasonable degree) with at least the ability to read a web search result. Even if Siri would ask "Would you like me to read this?" or something. If the page itself is properly semantically coded (heading tags, page structure, etc), then the information on it should be identifiable enough that Siri would know what parts to read.

 

[jerryk]

Too late, apples incompetent AI means smart speaker market is dominated by the competition

Apple's much higher price is also as big a factor. With Amazon Echos going for under $30 (and often under $20) it gets people in the Amazon ecosystem and when they want to expand they look at Echo first. Also, the number of devices and systems that can be voice-controlled by Alexa is very large and expanding.

 

[Maconplasma]

Can anyone tell me specifically what alexa and google assistant can do and Siri can’t? I see everyone praising them two but I m really curious why.

They aren’t good either. I have so many problems with Alexa. She barely understands half of my family’s commands and we all speak perfect English with great enunciation. Alexa sucks. I’ve heard bad things about Google’s assistant. Never tried it. Don’t want to risk my security on Google’s crap. So Alexa sucks and Google’s product is crap. Simple as that. Also keep in mind there are Android people here so the trolling comments about Siri are mostly coming from them.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Too late, apples incompetent AI means smart speaker market is dominated by the competition

That's why I have second-generation Echo in the kitchen, a four-generation Echo Dot w/clock in my bedroom, a Fire TV stick, and even controlling the EcoBee thermostat, all linked by the Alexa ecosystem.

 

[andreyush]

They aren’t good either. I have so many problems with Alexa. She barely understands half of my family’s commands and we all speak perfect English with great enunciation. Alexa sucks. I’ve heard bad things about Google’s assistant. Never tried it. Don’t want to risk my security on Google’s crap. So Alexa sucks and Google’s product is crap. Simple as that. Also keep in mind there are Android people here so the trolling comments about Siri are mostly coming from them.

I really don't get it.
I have a OG Homepod and Siri does every basic thing I need. Controls lights and smart devices, apple music comands, reminders, weather, calls people etc. Not sure what people do with Alexa that is that revolutionary?

 

[Macaholic868]

I’m in the minority but you can pry my HomePod from my cold, dead hands. It works great as a speaker for the Apple TV, works great with Apple Music and what I’ve uploaded via what used to be called iTunes Match. The sound from that speaker is top notch. Siri isn’t great to start with and it’s a disaster on the HomePod in terms of what it can’t do but you can tell it was built for top notch sound quality. Siri is an after thought. I bought a mini for our bedroom because my wife likes to listen to music when she’s getting ready and it’s nice to be able to turn the lights on and off using voice commands instead of the Home app. It’s just not the same or even close in terms of sound quality. Not even close. Apple needs a new flagship HomePod priced to sell at $199 to complement the mini or just get out of the game altogether.

 

[_Spinn_]

I really don't get it.
I have a OG Homepod and Siri does every basic thing I need. Controls lights and smart devices, apple music comands, reminders, weather, calls people etc. Not sure what people do with Alexa that is that revolutionary?

Same here. Siri does what I need and with shortcuts I can make her smarter.

My parents have Echos in their house and don’t do more than turn lights on and off with them.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

If I say to Siri

“Hey Siri, turn on the light” she turns on both the actual light that I named “Light” and the light strip named “LED Strip”
Your argument would be valid if the LED strip was named “LED Light Strip” or something, but it isn’t. It’s a dumb led strip connected to a Meross smart plug. The “Light” is an actual Nanoleaf smart bulb.

A 10 year old knows better, Siri doesn’t. Either my 8 year old cousin is much smarter than most 10 year olds or Siri is dumb as ****.

Based on that, then, it really would depend on how you set it up. It’s not HomeKit not knowing the difference between light and lights, it’s more your EXPECTING that it should know without you taking the time during configuration to ensure that what you want to work works as expected. A computer is only as smart as the person that develops for it makes it. A smart home is only as smart as the person that set it up made it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The one problem is that the Home Pods are the only way to have an always-on hub for HomeKit. I wonder why Apple does not release the server as an installable package on different platforms.

No, Apple TV is as well. I use a headless always on older AppleTV.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple need to innovate on pricing which they have never done.

Consider that you paid $19 while lots of others got it for free. Apple’s never going to sell for an extremely low price OR give anything away for free for the sake of marketshare.

To be sure, the other guys may be selling them cheap, but, over the coming years, the amount of money they make off the data will way more than offset that.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The headline states Apple is "Largely absent" in the smart speaker market. The reason for that is Siri's stupidity, and Apple's ridiculous pricing. But if Siri was even half smart, the pricing wouldn't have mattered.

No, it’s primarily because the competition is essentially being given away. It’s the same discussion with why Apple doesn’t compete for schools. Not ONLY are Chromebooks cheap, Google’s also willing to be their 24 hour remote support for some incredibly low dollar value per device. There IS no competition for Apple there.