Barclays Says AirPods Continue to Grow, HomePod Sales Have Been Underwhelming

[Anuba]

I see people running around with them every day. They are becoming very common around here.

They're awesome, but they do look incredibly daft. Especially in the Nordic winter when everyone's wearing a knit cap, they cover the earbud part but the mic sticks out. It literally looks like you jammed a couple of X-large Q-tips in your ears but it was so grimy in there they got lodged, then you forgot about them and eventually they withered and broke off and now the stumps are just stuck there. Not Jony Ive's best moment.

IMO the Airpods are the ultimate earphones for hands-free phone calls. I use them for almost all my calls now. They are also pretty good for music listening as long as the environment isn't too noisy. I just wish they had better and more reliable gesture controls (including volume adjustment).

I agree, with one reservation: They're great for calls (and music), but only on your end. Sound quality at the other end is rather lacklustre. I did some tests with AirPods vs solo3, powerbeats2 and beatsx. The latter two sounded the best, unsurprisingly as they have mics on the cable. Solo3 was ok-ish in spite of the mic being that far away. AirPods, sadly, sound weak, muffled and bitcrushed like a 1996 cellphone call.

Mics are very hit and miss that way. I've got some Sony BT speakers, and the better ones have mics so terrible they can't even be used for Siri (she goes from about 2/10 failure rate to 9/10), and a crappy mono speaker called BSP10 where the sound is garbage but the mic has great definition and depth, it's a damn Neumann U87 compared to AirPods...

 

[doelcm82]

Siri is a problem for ALL Apple devices.... so many simple things it cannot do... why can't I tell my phone to do something on my TV? Why can't my TV do things on my phone?

Siri needs to be an iCloud service that works exactly the same no matter which of your devices/computers you access it through.

I agree, but the creator of Siri says it should just be good at a few specific things, and Apple’s attempts to be everything you want are misguided.
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They're awesome, but they do look incredibly daft. Especially in the Nordic winter when everyone's wearing a knit cap, they cover the earbud part but the mic sticks out. It literally looks like you jammed a couple of X-large Q-tips in your ears but it was so grimy in there they got lodged, then you forgot about them and eventually they withered and broke off and now the stumps are just stuck there. Not Jony Ive's best moment.

All new tech looks daft. Transistor radios were daft (or the period equivalent of “daft”). So were boom boxes. Using a touchscreen phone is like petting a hamster. How ridiculous were the “bat belts” people used to hold their arrays of mobile phones and beepers? What about the Borg implant look of early Bluetooth headset? Now we walk around our homes shouting “Alexa”, or “Hey Siri”.

Face it. Some people think you’re not cool (if only for your detailed fantasies about other people’s otic hygiene).

 

[Bestevaer]

As a HomePod owner, it sounds amazing, looks nice and the mic pickup is incredible compared to my limited interaction with Alexa devices. I have promise apple will provide an update in the near future for Siri functionality which is why I wasn't too annoyed with the product going into it. WWDC better provide some nice Siri updates.

I've been trying to use Apple Music and I think they need to blow up the entire iTunes experience with Apple Music. It's bad (IMO). The navigation of everything between buying music at the store, my library and Apple Music is a complete miss. For such a popular service, I feel like it's one of apple's worst designs.

Hmm, would you buy a other product which is half finished? With the hope that a possible future update could bring it up to par?

I wouldn't. And especially not for premium prices...

 

[I7guy]

Hmm, would you buy a other product which is half finished? With the hope that a possible future update could bring it up to par?

I wouldn't. And especially not for premium prices...

Apple. Absolutely. They will deliver and I have complete confidence in that. However, as you phrase it, I wouldn't buy a half finished product that doesn't meet my needs.

 

[62tele]

Personally I think Siri has improved quite a bit over the years. Yeah, Apple still limits it in some ways. However, I just asked it for the scores of yesterday's SEC Mens Hoop tournament games and it performed flawlessly and quickly on my HomePod.
Folks here get worked up about some esoteric or singular functions but most folks use their AI personal assistant for a relatively small number of functions. I would bet that the typical Alexa owner interacts very little with the device. Folks I know who own it, say it only used occassionally. My neighbor is constantly requesting it to adjust his thermostat. Big whoop.
I don't have Apple Music but HomePod is playing my iTunes library fine from the cloud (not Airplay as someone above suggested).
I have recently been very critical of Apple for how buggy some recent software has been and some ham handed ways they rolled out products etc. I am confused why this version of HomePod can't add an event to my Calendar when Siri on the iPhone or iPad can. That just seems dumb and lazy but I assume it's for privacy/personal information reasons. However, overall I can find too much to bitch about with HomePod. It does nearly everything I want it to do. YMMV

 

[doelcm82]

Hmm, would you buy a other product which is half finished? With the hope that a possible future update could bring it up to par?

The HomePod is more than half finished.

But if by "half" you mean "less than 100%", I think the answer for me is yes. After more than 35 years of using computers, I have become accustomed to products gaining abilities that weren't ready (or in some cases conceived) at the time I purchased the hardware.

It's a speaker. It's for playing audio. Just like the iPhone is a phone, for calling a plumber whose name you look up in the yellow pages. Except... they also have the ability to do other things because of the computer software and specialized hardware that has nothing to do with playing audio or making a voice call. Computer software is usually updatable. So more and more, you'll find your car and refrigerator and TV gaining functionality over time.

That doesn't mean you should wait until all the updates are complete before buying. Because you'll find yourself without a car or refrigerator or TV or phone or speaker, and you'll be too scared or disgusted to buy a new one for the certainty of getting one that's "half" finished.

 

[AZ Jack]

The AirPods are great. Yeah, I know, they look a little goofy, but it took me about 5 seconds to get over that when experiencing how well they work and sound. My teenage son had some rather choice comments about how they look and all that melted away when I let him try them, and of course now he wants a pair. As far as the HomePod, I just don't see that device in my future, and I am a person who is pretty heavily invested in the Apple Ecosystem. I also have several Echos and a Sonos system. The Echo works amazingly well with the Sonos after recent updates and there are other devices in my home that the very pricey HomePod won't control. "Alexa, play [Spotify playlist name] in Family Room - Plays a Spotify playlist on my family room Sonos speakers. I just don't see HomePod competing with this capability today or anytime in the near future.

 

[Cesar Battistini]

You misunderstand what personal information means.

Google uses non identifiable data, which is not your personal information.

And you believe them!?! Everything I search for becomes ads and follows me everywhere on chrome.

 

[Mac 128]

I said this before, AirPods are an excellent product and a hit because not only they have reasonably good sound quality,charge time and a great design,but they are not locked to Apple product and services only.
With HomePod, Apple showed greed, and decided to lock them to their own service only.
No Bluetooth support (unlike AirPods).
It only works with Apple Music and AirPlay.
It biting them back,it's a flop because of these stupid restrictions.

Why shouldn't be able to use HomePod the same way they use AirPods?

Of course it has Bluetooth.

And since it has Bluetooth, and AirPlay, who cares whether it's onboard apps are limited to Apple Music at this time?

 

[macsrcool1234]

Wireless charging mod.... Thanks, googled and parts ordered! I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier?

it's a total gamechanger....apple's rumored cost is $79! i spent....$3 shipped on ebay for case/qi charger(x2) and it looks and works great for me. if you are really worried about looks, im sure you can spend more for a higher end case to hide it better but on mine it is barely noticeable.

 

[iLLUMI]

"Barclays Says AirPods Continue to Grow" .... so they're getting bigger??? LOL
Still waiting on black airpods.
If they'd like AirPod SALES to grow ever more then Apple should start selling black ones.
My money is sitting patiently in my wallet for the arrival of black AirPods.

 

[The Game 161]

air pods still remains one of the best products i have bought from apple. Not sure will upgrade to next gen though if it's just hey siri features

sound is fine for the most part

 

[Zeke92]

I purchased a HomePod and, inarguably, it's an incredibly niche product.

I already owned a Sonos Play:1, which I found to be a really solid product. My only gripe was that, as an older product, the Play:1 is app-controlled. As an Apple Music subscriber and someone who wasn't concerned about the HomePod cost (both niche categories of buyers), the allure of the product was to be able to use voice to control the music.

My biggest problem with HomePod is ironically how you can't app-control it like the Sonos Play:1. The Sonos app had a major benefit: once you loaded your Apple Music subscription, you could use the app on any device connected to your network. This means my wife could browse music in the Sonos app on her phone and play music on the speaker with my Apple Music account. The HomePod, on the other hand, only allows you to browse music from the Apple Music app on my phone and play it to the speaker via AirPlay. So, any other user in my house is stuck using only voice.

Additionally, as many people have noted, Siri on HomePod misses a lot of direction, particularly if there is ambient noise or a conversation in the room. For instance, I may be speaking to my wife, pause, and say, "Hey Siri, stop the music", and get no response from the system. In many cases, it's just easier to walk to the unit and hit the top to turn it off.

Hey dude I saw your post and I was always annoyed about how you seemingly had to Airplay music to your HomePod if you want to control it with your phone. However, I figured out you don’t. If you tap the airplay button and swipe until you see the HomePod and select it, you can then control your HomePod Sonos app like style. Check out this article for a picture. https://9to5mac.com/2018/03/09/review-homepod/

Starting with the first picture, the AirPlay/controller distinction picture is the 6th.

 

[Stella]

The Ad matching algorithms based upon your anonymous data , without the need for using personal data is pretty damned accurate.

If Google did sell your personal data, we’d know about it. Someone would be whistle blowing for sure.

And you believe them!?! Everything I search for becomes ads and follows me everywhere on chrome.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

Of course it has Bluetooth.

And since it has Bluetooth, and AirPlay, who cares whether it's onboard apps are limited to Apple Music at this time?

His point is still valid though. It only works over 1.) Apple Music using AirPlay or 2.) other iOS apps using AirPlay. You cannot, for example, play music from your Galaxy phone and play music on HomePod.

This was his point. Apple locked out non-Apple customers.

 

[WarHeadz]

Have yet to see anyone wearing those cigarette butts in public. If it's really true people are buying them then they must be using them in private.

Really? Come to Long Beach. The frickin cashier at Panda Express has a pair. Can't wait to get my own.

 

[OTACORB]

The real difference between Amazon, Google and Apple is that Amazon has worked with many vendors and apps to integrate within their voice assistant hardware (Echo, Echo Spot). Google is finally beginning to open up too. Apple of course we all know if it happens it will only happy on their terms and be very, very limited. Just like the Echo can't send text messages if you have an iPhone because Apple refuses to open up the API's. Siri will continue to struggle because of Apple's own BS, not because it couldn't be just as good.

 

[gnasher729]

The reason those products don't work isn't because of Apple - it's because of the manufacturers not adding support. Considering Apple has much stricter requirements regarding security (like encryption) and privacy, I can understand why some companies have been slow to add HomeKit support.

I have numerous HomeKit compatible peripherals. I originally started out with a single smart lock on the front door so my kids could come home from school and wouldn't need to carry any keys.

Let's stop right there. Imagine a "smart lock" that doesn't have appropriate security. Within a few weeks or months at most someone will create a hack that lets them open the locks. And then someone hacks the seller's database and finds all the addresses where that "smart lock" was delivered to. Burglars' paradise.

I'd rather have something secure like HomeKit.
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HomePods will not work with anything but an IOS device. Android devices will not work. There goes 50% of the market.

If you have an Android phone, you can pick between more than 20 apps that give you Airplay support. So that shouldn't be a problem. And it lets you play any non-Apple music source that way. In addition, Apple Music works without using any phone.
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I just ran a marathon with 30,000 people in it. There were THOUSANDS of people using airpods. You really need to get out. The only thing that's keeping more people from using them is supply.

I very much prefer noise cancelling headphones. That's just me. I suppose if you run a marathon, the weight difference really matters. And instead of an iPhone, an Apple Watch with 3G is probably also a lot lighter.

 

[Huffboys1]

Don't own a homepod and don't see myself buying one in the near future...down the road who knows.

Absolutely love my airpods. Don't really care if people think they look ridiculous. They work for me.

 

[OTACORB]

I'd rather have something secure like HomeKit.

There is that likely false since of security that Apple has marketed and you've clearly totally bought in. We are now hearing about these companies popping up that can actually reset iCloud passwords and get into iPhones. The FBI in fact has used one of them a few times now. Apple more secure... maybe at least that is what they tell us. LOL

 

[gnasher729]

Do I understand correctly that the law has changed in the US and Apple will have to start reporting these numbers? Something isn't quite right when you have shareholders but you refuse to tell them how many of each product you're selling.

That has been the case for many years. Apple doesn't want to make detailed sales breakdowns available to their competitors. And they don't have to.
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There is that likely false since of security that Apple has marketed and you've clearly totally bought in. We are now hearing about these companies popping up that can actually reset iCloud passwords and get into iPhones. The FBI in fact has used one of them a few times now. Apple more secure... maybe at least that is what they tell us. LOL

iPhone 5 and 5c where the last ones that the FBI can break into. If you have one of those, and it's still working, time to upgrade.

Any evidence? Didn't think so. LOL. Every idiot can make claims. They can't deliver.
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Pretty sure Apple doesn’t sell ads anymore.

I'm also told that the HomePod only plays DRM-laden music from the App Store. (laden, adjective: Heavily loaded or weighed down, not in common use except by wannabe writers in conjunction with "DRM"). People come out with a lot of nonsense.
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yes, it's a speaker and even this speaker is intentionally limited with regard to e.g. sound sources :-/

It can play music from my Mac, from my phone, from my wife's phone, without paying for Appe Music. If I paid for Apple Music, it could play anything except wax rolls.

 

[groovyd]

No sh* the HomePod has been a disappointment in sales, having been pre-announced months before a much delayed and mostly quiet release without half of it's main features intact. Tons of surprise and edge of the seat excitement in that failed release strategy, lol. The biggest buzz kill announcement and follow-through of the year. Who want's to jump on that half baked tv dinner?

Let's just hope they are hard at work with a wholesale replacement for Siri. It is long overdue and they must be keenly aware really how bad it is by now.

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

Oh, whats this? Something that costs ~8 times more than a google home mini, while doing 8 times as less isn't selling well? Colour me surprised.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Checked out the HomePod again at the Apple store tonight. I had to literally yell Hey Siri to get it to respond, and that wasn't a complete success all the time. The employee claims that you can activate it across a large room without yelling. In my two times demoing the HomePod, I did not find it easy to activate Siri on a consistent basis. Grtanted, the Apple Store is a big noisy place, but yelling at the speaker from 4 feet and it not responding? And I'm being told that I can speak in a normal tone across a room with the speaker at full volume and it will respond? I've yet to see it work that way at the Apple Store.

Yet it sounds pretty good in that noisy environment. I'm just leery of Siri. It was frustrating both times demoing just as it is frustrating on my iPhone and iPad.

 

[OneMike]

Before coming to this thread I honestly forgot HomePod was a product.