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

sblemmy said:
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.
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Thanks for taking the time to describe what it's like
 
If you only listen to hip hop and r&b and love hearing bass over everything else, the HomePod is for you. If you like rock music, seek alternatives. I quickly tired of the bass and dumped the HomePod for an Echo. The current promo Amazon is running is buy 3 Echos, get $50 off. So you could spend $350 on 1 HomePod or $250 on 3 Echos. That could be another reason why sales are sluggish.
 
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mi7chy said:
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.
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I was just in New York City and saw them everywhere. I can’t get over how weird they look.
 
I'd love to buy one to three, but I'm waiting for the launch in Norway. I'm not going to order one from the US because it would have the wrong cable and no 5-year warranty.
 
deanthedev said:
Rubbish. I see them everywhere. I see people jogging with them, I see tons of them on the train to work and I see lots of people using them instead of those gawdawful looking Bluetooth earpieces people used to wear.

Just another manufactured anecdote by you.
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So.....why is yours any less manufactured?

The only place I have seen them is one person on the plane a few weeks ago.

Hopefully you CAN understand popularity can depend on where you are.......or maybe you can’t.
 
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citysnaps said:
Same observation here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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But Apple has how many employees and employee wannabes in the Bay area. I think this is a problem with Apple and their employees, what they see in the Bay Area is what they think the world is like. That is simply not the case.
 
I purchased a HomePod thinking I would not keep it, nonetheless I have been very happy with it. I have had no issues with Apple Music, I have lots of playlist that I've made and many that I've added to my library that curators have made. When I tell Siri to play one of them, it's done. I also have several home devices and Siri never misses a beat turning these things on and off. Even setting scenes like going to bed or leaving for the day. It handles it all very well. I occasionally get weather, news updates and sport scores. I voice text to co-workers and family. Sure there are things I can't do that I should be able to do. Like get my calendar appointments or even schedule an appointment. These things will come in time. To say the HomePod is just a speaker is just out right BS! I get it's not for everyone, but naysayers constantly talk about how Apple is doomed and there are better alternatives. Yet Apple keeps reporting record sales and profits. It's all a bunch of BS, but hey whatever floats your boat. The HomePod works for me and I am sure I am not the only one. In fact I know I am not because unlike the one person that says he doesn't know anyone that wants one. I know of several people that bought them and use them daily. A buddy of mine has a son that works at Best Buy and he says they have sold out a few times and restocked. The Barclay assclowns know about as much as I do about how many Apple is selling. Just a freaking guess and some of you jump on that like a dog with a bone. Oh Apple is Doomed! LOL
 
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BeforeTheMeds said:
So.....why is yours any less manufactured?

The only place I have seen them is one person on the plane a few weeks ago.

Hopefully you CAN understand popularity can depend on where you are.......or maybe you can’t.
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The history of the person posting tells me all I need to know.
 
AirPod is really a superb product but HomePod, I really doubt many would buy beyond iOS locked subscribers since many already may have excellent speaker system at home.
 
Steve is gone. You can't expect people to buy Apple products anymore just because it's Apple.
 
Baymowe335 said:
Article flat out says it's "unclear" how many HomePods have sold. ✅
Macrumors hater believes sketchy, speculative rumor saying Apple isn't doing well. ✅
Didn't read article. ✅
Apple reports quarter to disprove all naysayers. ✅
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Happens every single time.

  • Some "analyst" with zero knowledge of actual sales numbers makes a random claim.
  • MR reports on it in the most negative way possible because that drives the most website views which means the most ad revenue for them.
  • MR viewers don't bother to do anything more than read headlines and doom Apple.
  • Apple has quarterly report which shows they were all wrong and sales have been strong.
  • Repeat cycle having learned nothing.
 
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palmerc said:
About 3 months ago they exploded on the scene. Everyone has them now.
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Again, I’m sure that depends on where you are. I was visiting the us in the midwest up to about 3 weeks ago for several months. Nobody had them, saw one guy on the plane.

I’m not saying they are not popular overall, just popularity can depend on where you live.

I have not seen one set here in mexico, period.
 
I have a HomePod and got during the weekend launch. Coming from an echo dot attached to an aftermarket speaker that accepted the dot in the top of it the HomePod sounds incredible. The bass heaviness of the HomePod has subsided the more it is played. Unfortunately, the honey moon phase is over.

But Siri.... Absolute garbage compared to Alexa. Apple may have and still is marketing the HomePod as music priority #1, but they are playing in a space of digital assistants. Making Siri the only way to interact with the HomePod defaults you into this space. Apple, I love you, but you f-ed up with the HomePod. If I wasn't past my return window it would go back. I keep hoping that Siri will get an upgrade now that HomePod is out, but Apple doesn't seem to care. More often I am asking Siri to play a certain song or album and I get a complete random song or I am told it doesn't exist even though I am reading the title direct from Apple Music.

My wife loves the way it sounds, but is tired of the Siri BS from lack of responses, the kids finding it funny to annoyingly telling Siri to stop or start a different song because it cannot differentiate voices is just frustrating. All this would be avoidable if you were not forced to use Shitiri(Siri)
 
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