Last time I checked, speakers and headphones are accessories. The exact ones that they've sold in their stores and are now not selling are accessories for Apple products. A Samsung phone or a Dell computer is not an accessory nor is it something someone walking into an Apple store would be looking for. There is a difference.
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Apple Stops Selling Headphones and Speakers From Third-Party Companies Ahead of Rumored Smaller HomePod and AirPods Studio Launch
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Coke doesn't sell Coke products either. Grocery stores, liquor stores, convenience stores and the Targets/Walmarts and big box stores sell Coke products. They also sell Pepsi products.
I've never seen a Coke Store, have you?
Agreed, but that wasn't the argument that I replied to, and to which you replied to.
The fact that Apple is taking the competition off their shelves says a lot about the confidence Apple has that a shopper will choose the new Apple products over a competitor. Weak.
Apple builds and maintains Apple Stores to sell their products. Period. Any other brands or products they sell are purely incidental to the main goal: sell Apple products. Giving store space to headphones and speakers that (presumably) now compete with their own headphones and speakers is inimical to that goal. So while they "normally" sell Bose headphones and Sonos speakers, now they don't. And that makes total sense and is completely fine.
I’m just wondering if we’ll see the $200 homepod deals anymore if there’s a smaller one under it. I just moved and could use an extra homepod or two.
Until those new HomePods and headphones start collecting dust (like the current ones do) and they have to again make room for products that people actually come in to buy.
And, there is plenty of room in Apple Stores. Plenty. To me, it sounds like they don't have confidence in their new products so they choose to remove the competition that has been on their shelves until now.
It says absolutely nothing about about Apple's confidence in their products. Why would any company voluntarily sell competing products in their branded stores?!
As I mentioned in my original post (which you left out), I'm not sure how Apple is positioning this product. The HomePod was positioned as a high-quality speaker, hence it's price. But if this new mini HomePod is positioned as a smart speaker with average audio, then it should compete against the Echos of the world at <$100.
Does anyone know if you can hook up Apple home pods to Apple TV and make a surround sound set up like Sonos?
I got 2. They work good. I like using them as tv speakers with the ATV as much as music.
But I with they had a wire to connect to the tv so I could use them with any tv input source. Also some apps on the ATV don't play that nice with the Homepod.
I was going to go Sonos in the past but when I saw a HOmepod $200 it was easier pricepoint to jump into. And liked it enough to buy a 2nd to try stereo.
still though might jump to sonos one of these days for my tv.
But I with they had a wire to connect to the tv so I could use them with any tv input source. Also some apps on the ATV don't play that nice with the Homepod.
I was going to go Sonos in the past but when I saw a HOmepod $200 it was easier pricepoint to jump into. And liked it enough to buy a 2nd to try stereo.
still though might jump to sonos one of these days for my tv.
Really wish Siri could control more smart home products. HomeKit is pretty limiting, so I've invested into the Alexa platform. Seems almost every smart home device works with Alexa, and you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars per speaker like with HomePod.
Thats the solution I am looking for as well. I have a decent receiver/speaker system now collecting dust. But I am building a new rec room, and my goal is to be wireless in there.
This is an absolutely stupid move by Apple.
Eliminating the competition on products to promote your own brand products that do NOt compete on all or more aspects or features is just dumb. They’ll loose customers if they continue this.
feature for feature Apple should be co dude that to compete on and also
SIRI - what’s with all the high paid engineering team and 2 years STILL no progress!
Eliminating the competition on products to promote your own brand products that do NOt compete on all or more aspects or features is just dumb. They’ll loose customers if they continue this.
feature for feature Apple should be co dude that to compete on and also
SIRI - what’s with all the high paid engineering team and 2 years STILL no progress!
It doesn't limit choice. But it does limit convenience. Why would I be a fool to trust Apple hand-picking the best accessories for me that work well with the Mac ecosystem and follow a similar philosophy (exceptional quality, design etc.)? Of course I can buy Bose somewhere else, but I like the idea of not having to.
And no matter your views, at the end of the day, Apple can choose to sell or not sell whatever it wants in their stores.
If they currently don’t have a product in that niche then selling something makes sense. I know people that have no idea what HomePod is or who makes it. Apple doesn’t have a reputation when it comes to speakers. Getting people to look now when they are in the market would be good as Apple expands what they sell. Right now most people don’t think to look at Apple for sound systems.
I really want to get rid of my google things but siri often can not complete home kit requests for my Philips hue things or home kit garage doors when google has no problem. on the watch/phones etc super unreliable makes me upset cause i really hate google. also please dont be 199.00
Because it makes zero sense that Apple would sell you a competitor's product inside their own branded stores. Apple obviously believes that the HomePod, for example, is the "best accessory" for home audio, it obviously works the absolute best with the Mac/iPhone/iPad/Apple services, and it looks amazing. If they didn't think that, they wouldn't release the product. Extending your logic, Apple employees may as well be selling you Google Buds and Samsung Beans (or whatever they're called). They look nice and work with Apple devices too!
A judge has commented that Epic’s case is pretty weak, and Google is saying the same thing as Apple about Epic’s methods.
There is a reason Bose (and others) want to sell directly from an Apple Store. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s good for their business even if they have to pay Apple money that they don’t have to pay to sell that product from their own website or from someone like Best Buy. I doubt that an Apple sale cuts into Bose’s online sales or hurts the other retail outlets that sell Bose. I think that they sell as much at those outlets and then they sell more at Apple, so larger total sales. I don’t think that Bose is stupid so if they were losing sales or a lot of money by selling from an Apple establishment I think they would quit.
