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Barclays Says AirPods Continue to Grow, HomePod Sales Have Been Underwhelming
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You must live in a small town, literally saw three people wearing them at the bar in a coffee shop this morning. And that was lower than usual.
I see more AirPods than wired apple headsets now.
A question for AirPod owners, as I can’t go and try them in my ear lugs! How close is the fit to the standard earphones Apple supplies?
People buy more Apple products now than they did when Steve was alive.
My HomePod is great. But it has two issues - Siri (For anything other than music), and HomeKit.
Both are underwhelming right now. In some cases having a HomePod makes Siri an even worse experience - I can now no longer do some "hey siri" requests to my phone/iPad because the HomePod picks them up but can't complete them.
Both are underwhelming right now. In some cases having a HomePod makes Siri an even worse experience - I can now no longer do some "hey siri" requests to my phone/iPad because the HomePod picks them up but can't complete them.
That’s why I’m not going to buy one yet. Siri may work well for some but it absolutely sucks for me. If I dictate a couple of sentences it’s bound to get at least one word wrong, usually right smack in the middle making editing it a PTA. If it can’t understand me on my iPhone I don’t buy that it’ll understand me on the HomePod.
You should grab a pair. That would be a great price.
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They would be a steal at $75.
Got my HomePod on Day 1 and have thoroughly enjoyed it everyday since. In fact the entire family loves being able to play music on it at anytime, including my 6 year old granddaughter (I made a playlist for her so she just needs to ask Siri to play it). I think a lot of people who complain about the HomePod would have a different opinion if they actually used or owned one.
Comparing a home, AC powered speaker to a mobile product, it should come as no surprise - given the "mobile first" outlook of a huge majority of users - that the AirPods sell way more than the HomePod. 
I live in a fairly populated area and I see the AirPods all the time. I’m actually amazed how well they blend in and they don’t stand out as much as others are seemingly make it appear to be. They are certainly not as intrusive as Bluetooth earpieces that were available years ago.
The HomePod is like the first-gen iPhone before third-party apps and the App Store existed. That first iPhone was cool, but it became a world-changing paradigm because it became a platform.
The HomePod could do something like this too, but so far, what you see is what you get, and if people aren't buying it in droves, is anybody surprised? It's a much, much better version of the Alexa or any of that lot... but it's not categorically different really.
The minute you can install Duolingo, or a storytellng app, or a voice text adventure, or... whatever some awesome developer dreams up -- that's the day I'll get one.
The HomePod could do something like this too, but so far, what you see is what you get, and if people aren't buying it in droves, is anybody surprised? It's a much, much better version of the Alexa or any of that lot... but it's not categorically different really.
The minute you can install Duolingo, or a storytellng app, or a voice text adventure, or... whatever some awesome developer dreams up -- that's the day I'll get one.
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Part of the problem is Apple stores are not set up for trialing audio products at all and it’s too much money for most to risk spending on something you can’t even test/audition properly. The economic climate is shaky. Wages are flat. Cost of living continuing to skyrocket.
I’m surprised the AirPods seem to be as successful as they are though. I’m seeing a lot of them around now, whereas before Christmas: hardly any.
Give it a 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth and I’ll Buy one.... I won’t however buy a speaker I can only use with Apple products, which Apple might say in 6 years that they’re ending support for it making it a useless brick.
That's the problem.
It's actually worse because you can't play anything on it outside of Airplay.
I think that is true of just about every product discussed here, Apple’s or anyone else’s. People say AirPods suck and have never even seen them let alone tried them. Ditto for HomePod or whatever.
And the same for Android, Alexa, Microsoft, etc. Someone plays with an Android phone for 30 seconds and says it sucks. They’ve never owned one or learned the OS.
Regardless of how you define it, if Apple made more than they can sell, its a problem. This report is so vague. After all, Apple only released HomePod in three countries - it could be selling well there and still a dud relative to AirPods.
Same here! Mine was delivered on launch day. I love it! Fantastic sound and ridiculous pickup with the microphones. I'm still on my first month of a three month free trial with Apple Music. I love that too. Have found many new artist and being able to request any song off the top of my head is beyond enjoyable. Aside from music I use Siri to interact with my HomeKit devices. Siri as a knowledge based assistant needs improving but for controlling my HomeKit devices its amazing. I have a 2800 sq. ft. two story home. Last night while laying on the couch in the upstairs game room I was controlling lights and the thermostat via Siri on the HomePod which is downstairs. This was without screaming. My phone was on my leg on the couch and lit up but the HomePod handled the task.
Even if no improvements were made to HomePod, I'm still happy with my purchase, but Apple is going to be around for the foreseeable future. Stereo, AirPlay 2, ATV integration, true HomeKit integration, etc. are all on the way. I think all the HomePod hate comes from the fact that Apple had the nerve to release it without all those things already in place.
I feel they also need to address reliability. I use Siri to set timers quite a lot, in the same conditions, using the same phrases. It doesn’t work all the time - no idea why!
If you're talking about NYC, where I live... well, I don't know where you're hanging out but it isn't the subway because I see people using AirPods constantly, every day.
In fact, I'm getting pretty tired of ****heads casually zombie-ing around engrossed in conversation and expecting people to get out of their way. I'm more than happy to bump right into them!
I bought a HomePod yesterday. I gotta say it's definitely underwhelming for almost $400 after tax. I'm surprised that so many reviews praised the sound quality of it. It's just fine and there is nothing extraordinary about it. The bass is very heavy, but the mid range leaves much to be desired, frankly speaking. I'm gonna test run a bit more and decide if I wanna keep it. Siri is very limited on this thing.
Moreover, there are still some bugs with the HP as well: I had been watching some TV content on my Apple TV with the sound coming out of the HomePod. Then I decided to play some music on it. After that I had a really hard time trying to reconnect it back to my Apple TV. I had to turn the ATV off/back on in order to make it work. That's a simple task and it's still buggy.
Moreover, there are still some bugs with the HP as well: I had been watching some TV content on my Apple TV with the sound coming out of the HomePod. Then I decided to play some music on it. After that I had a really hard time trying to reconnect it back to my Apple TV. I had to turn the ATV off/back on in order to make it work. That's a simple task and it's still buggy.
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Im only getting interested in HomePod if i can connect it directly to my tv. I'll buy two if i could, presuming the sound is that good as advertised. And it should offer stereo sound of course.
What’s holding me back is the Apple ecosystem aka Apple trap. It’s limited and über expensive.
Making it Apple only to attract customers to the Apple trap only works when it’s the best product for that purpose you can get. But as Sonos delivers equal sound and by many reviewer says better sound and is more open, has a better assistant. Who is interested to buy the HomePod trap?
Apple still thinks it’s king. Only in the land of the blind it is. Apple needs to start delever again and pay more focus on the product it sells than the maximum profit it can squeeze out of its customers. It’s really embarrassing.
What’s holding me back is the Apple ecosystem aka Apple trap. It’s limited and über expensive.
Making it Apple only to attract customers to the Apple trap only works when it’s the best product for that purpose you can get. But as Sonos delivers equal sound and by many reviewer says better sound and is more open, has a better assistant. Who is interested to buy the HomePod trap?
Apple still thinks it’s king. Only in the land of the blind it is. Apple needs to start delever again and pay more focus on the product it sells than the maximum profit it can squeeze out of its customers. It’s really embarrassing.
That's exactly what I thought the night I first used it. The reviews give you the expectation that your ears are going to hear something out of this world. I moved my HomePod to a different location and gave it two days. I love it now. I'd be interested to hear if you still feel the same after some time.