Those meager profits of streaming music services can't support the cost of developing the speech tech, and the whole collapse in the Alexa division is driven by users ordering far less than forecast. Both are widely reported.
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Best Cyber Monday HomePod Mini Deals Available Today
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I bet this is what gave birth to that Apple Music Voice only subscription.
I wasn’t talking about profitability, just saying the speakers aren’t dead-end products.
A profitless product from a company built around high margins is a dead-end product.
And once it detects you are near asleep, at 100% volume, "You have used up your allotment of sleeping sounds for today!!!"
Profitless? Around 40% GPM, as with other Apple products. No doubt Apple sells a lot of HomePod Minis at $99 (especially during holidays) and does well.
As an aside...if you click the link in the story taking you to the Verizon HomePod mini, the price is $99, not $79.99.
The two that I have sound good and are a great value.
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Do you have proof that apple isn’t making a profit on HomePods? And I’m talking proof, not speculation from Gruber or German.
If you want a voice-assisted speaker why don't you just buy something cheap like the Echo?
The HomePod is a great speaker; and worth it's money for that alone. My two HomePods ($700) cost less than half of the amplifier (STR-DA90ES and speakers) it replaced. And while it has some voice-commands, I would not recommend to buy it just for that.
I'm not sure how your post relates to what you were quoting me, and I've already addressed your question earlier in the thread...but I understand if you don't read all the posts, coming in late can be confusing. In any case, to answer your question I have multiple Amazon speakers. The larger one was my first, and I bought several dots after I became enamored with it. But then my 3 year old activated the Amazon music subscription with voice commands, and I found I was being charged a subscription fee for several months without knowing. I decided to shut off the Amazon devices and try a HomePod mini, and I really like how I can stream my several 1000 mp3 music collection easily from my Apple devices and never need a subscription (sure I can do that on the Amazon devices, but it's really easy on the HomePod using control center). My wife took the large Amazon device and set it up without a credit card so our kids can ask it questions and play music (through a shared Spotify account). I just bought two HomePod Minis for $60 each off Amazon (I have 4 total) and hung them under my desk shelf. I'm pretty happy with my Apple ecosystem setup.
They're nice little AirPlay speakers, and they integrate very nicely with my other Apple gear. I could seriously give half a crap about all this automation garbage people are whining about. Same goes for my full-sized HomePod. It provides a great output for music and the audio from my Apple TV. Honestly, I swear people complain just to complain.
"I could seriously give half a crap about all this automation garbage people are whining about. Same goes for my full-sized HomePod."
Totally agree. As an aside I have a dedicated Mac Mini that handles all of my home automation and security needs, and does that very well 24/7.
"Same goes for my full-sized HomePod. It provides a great output for music and the audio from my Apple TV."
And agree here as well. That my Home Pods integrate seamlessly with Apple Music is huge, letting me listen to all-I-can-eat music of any genre or artist that I'm interested in at the time.
"Honestly, I swear people complain just to complain."
Yep, sadly true, it's a staple for many. There are a lot of people who are perpetually unhappy and trashing some person/company/product gives them a little blip of power - something that's otherwise lacking in their life. Sadly, that blip of feel-good power dissipates in less than a day and soon needs to be replenished slagging/complaining about something/someone else the following day. Day, after day, after day.
They’re a fun accessory that’s a Trojan horse for Apple Music.
The Mini is WAY overdue for an update and Apple kinda dropped the ball (in my opinion) on the larger HomePod, which could have been a great product with some more development.
Apple’s “computational music” approach is working well for the AirPods Max and to a somewhat lesser extent on the AirPods Pro 2. I’d be a lot more interested in a HomePod if they actually sounded really good, which they currently don’t.
The Mini is WAY overdue for an update and Apple kinda dropped the ball (in my opinion) on the larger HomePod, which could have been a great product with some more development.
Apple’s “computational music” approach is working well for the AirPods Max and to a somewhat lesser extent on the AirPods Pro 2. I’d be a lot more interested in a HomePod if they actually sounded really good, which they currently don’t.
Reason being they don't have an affiliate account with Costco, if Costco even offers one.
You're not considering the development and ongoing data costs of the voice ecosystem, without which they are simply Apple-branded airplay speakers from 15 years ago.
We don't really have proof of anything about Apple except what's in the 10k, which isn't much. Not sure what you're doing on a rumors site if you are only interested in cold hard facts.
And you're not considering the voice ecosystem R&D (research and development) is spread over Apple tech far beyond HomePod speakers.
Also...R&D is not a cost included in determining GPM (which is based on direct materials and direct labor costs).
I love my minis. I have 5 through out the house. I use homekit enabled lights, switches and sensors. I can walk into a room, trip the sensor and the light come on. When I leave the house, lights will turn off, heat adjust itself and tvs turn off.
I can tell siri its movie time and the tv comes on, lights dim, shades are drawn and were ready to watch a movie.
It works for me. My wife is beginning to like it as well. It fun to listen to her talk to siri to set the lights, or adjus the tv sound.
my little kids love it. They can change the color of the lights in their room and have a great time. And if they fall asleep with the tv or speaker on, theyll turn themselves off in the middle of the night.
Im good.
I can tell siri its movie time and the tv comes on, lights dim, shades are drawn and were ready to watch a movie.
It works for me. My wife is beginning to like it as well. It fun to listen to her talk to siri to set the lights, or adjus the tv sound.
my little kids love it. They can change the color of the lights in their room and have a great time. And if they fall asleep with the tv or speaker on, theyll turn themselves off in the middle of the night.
Im good.
I know how accounting works. Sales of 20M units globally per year doesn't spread those costs far, even at 40% gross margins, especially when you consider the costs of marketing, taking up expensive retail space in the store, developing the firmware, support, advertising, etc. This is a very low penetration rate, especially if you consider the Apple fanboys buying multiple units, those sold as gifts but never really used, etc. In the 0% interest you could justify investing in a "who knows" initiative like this, but smart speakers and voice-first tech have been around a decade now and it seems pretty clear they are not going mass market soon.
Ahh I see. If you're making an argument, it's okay to use conjecture since you're on a "rumors site" and "cold hard facts" aren't relevant. Got it, excellent logic—very slick willie.
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Apple homepods may be profitable under some definitions of profit. They are definitely not materially profitable to the point of being a product worth continuing within the Apple business model. I didn't directly address your question as it's not relevant--either they are unprofitable or provide a tiny accretive profit. In either case, will be killed.
Okay let me see. HomePods may be “profitable,” but not “materially profitable”; they are “unprofitable,” but “provide a tiny profit.” I’ll sign off here and go chat with my 6 year old, he makes more sense! 😂