China Times Echoes Poor HomePod Sales and Rumors About Possible Lower-Priced Version

[dumastudetto]

Curious.

Has an analyst EVER been right about Apple product sales drops/production? Even once?

Nope.

I am certain HomePod is selling incredibly well. HomePod is already 1000x better than Sonos, and easily beats Amazon and Google in terms of audiophile listenability.

Every HomePod customer is a delighted customer evangelising the product to friends and family. There is no way sales are disappointing or missing targets.

HomePod will dominate all.

 

[vipergts2207]

Make a smaller one that's portable and has a built-in battery and I'll bite. I've got better audio gear than HomePod for the living room and bedroom. I need something portable that can be stationed in the bathroom while I'm taking a shower. Priced between $229-279 sounds about right.

 

[bunnicula]

Apple expected another huge hit like the Air Pods.

With AirPods, one can listen to whatever they want. With HomePod, one cannot just tell it to play music unless one is an Apple Music subscriber. That, along with the price, is the reason HomePod isn't selling more units.

Cut the price and bring in 3rd party app support and this will take off.

 

[jimothyGator]

$350 for a speaker that is essentially used to listen to Apple Music is a bit much IMO. I love my Google Home and I paid a fraction of the price that the HomePod is going for. Yes, the HomePod sounds better, but I'm no audiophile.

I find this assessment, which we see a lot on these forums and elsewhere. For a device that is primarily used to listen to music, audio quality is the most important factors.

That said, for my admittedly limited purposes, I actually find Siri superior in many ways to Alexa, which I also have in my home (I've never used Google Home, so I cannot comment on it). I actually do find it helpful to use Siri to control my HomeKit enabled lights (which also work with Alexa and Google Home), and Siri does a better job than Alexa in this regard. For example, I can say "Hey Siri, turn off all upstairs lights," and she does so. If I say, "Hey Siri, turn on kitchen light," my kitchen lights turn on. Alexa replies, "There are several devices that share that name. Which one did you mean?" She does this, because I actually named the device "kitchen lights" instead of "kitchen light". Siri knows that "lights" and "light" are close enough, and does what I mean, even if what I said was slightly different.

When it comes to controlling smart home devices, Siri does a better job in my experience than Alexa. Sure, Alexa has a lot more skills (and playing Jeopardy is fun), but Siri isn't all bad news.

 

[69Mustang]

Yup... Some have no idea how it works or what the benefits are. And complain about price or Siri.

Other's who do, and value audio quality from an always-on compact device that automatically assesses a room's acoustics and dynamically adapts to compensate in order to produce excellent sound, will value HomePod.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but quoting Apple's ad copy doesn't help your argument. It just sounds like you're parroting Apple's bullet points. You're more than capable of conveying your thoughts independent of Apple's marketing terminology. Just my opinion of course.

On topic: Imo, the HP starts off handicapped because Apple wants it that way. They are more interested in getting people invested in the ecosystem than simply selling a speaker. If they wanted stellar sales they would have made the speaker more accessible outside of the garden. Add BT connectivity and couple of other i/o options and you have a speaker with good sound and a higher level of desirability beyond the core Apple fan... Siri notwithstanding. They built a speaker that requires iOS and makes music outside of AM an undesirable prospect.

 

[gsurf123]

The money wasted on the supposed audiophile sound was money wasted. A lower price point should have been the target from the start. Not lower than the competitors who are all but giving theirs away, but low enough to make it easier purchase (maybe $250). The vast majority (probably upwards 95%) could care less about quality and are probably not capable of discerning the sound quality between the HomePod and the Amazon product offerings or even mid-range speakers. To them a speaker is a speaker: it makes sound. 4.9999% of the people appreciate better sound quality and can differentiate crap from decent. The remaining people are audiophiles who spend more on a single power cord that the HomePod cost. They have zero interest in a product like this. The same numbers hold true for cameras.

In the end this class of product is a novelty item whose time will pass and the technology will be incorporated into something more useful. When I heard they were developing this product where sound quality was a primary concern I could only think of the iPod speaker they sold many moons ago.

 

[spazzcat]

Make a smaller one that's portable and has a built-in battery and I'll bite. I've got better audio gear than HomePod for the living room and bedroom. I need something portable that can be stationed in the bathroom while I'm taking a shower. Priced between $229-279 sounds about right.

They are not going to take a loss on it, Apple doesn't do loss leaders. I believe the raw parts cost was around $265.

Edit: And is before software development, marketing, etc...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

My Target has had the same two HomePods (one black, one white) in stock for weeks.

HomePod is an underwhelming product. Both my wife and daughter miss the old Sonos: Play 1 we had before HomePod.

I wouldn't characterize it as much "underwhelming," as "incomplete." It's a decent speaker but, realistically, one only gets full benefit if they also subscribe to AppleMusic. Plus its version of Siri is perhaps the most limited of all its iterations.

Plus Apple hasn't really done a fantastic job marketing it, especial coupled with AM. I surprised they didn't launch an extended "free" AM trial period with HP purchase once the early adopters were off an running. You got in to an Apple Store and you barely see it there. Very little fanfare there in the way of signage or displays.

 

[Dave245]

Can’t speak for others but I love my HomePod I use it daily to listen to music set alarms and even get some information (“how long will it take me to get to Birmingham now?”) it manages all of that really well, I wouldn’t even consider a Google device in my home when they make their money off of other people’s data, that would be like Facebook making a speaker (something they are rumoured to be doing) and putting it in my home, no thank you.

 

[adamjackson]

I buy every single thing that Apple makes. I've owned every generation of product they've made since 1997 except some PowerMac / Mac Pro models. Hell, I even bought an Xserve because I think it was a beautiful machine

I did not buy a HomePod. Why?

1. Siri is still too dumb. My house is entirely HomeKit based and I walk around talking to my watch and Siri fails many times to get this right.
2. Doesn't support multiple timers (I had an Echo in the house but we have to use it for now)
3. Doesn't support Multiple Music services. GF Prefers Pandora and I prefer Apple Music
4. No AirPlay 2 Support
5. Price is double a lot of other speakers (yeah, I know it sounds good)

I have a Sonos 3 a Dot and an Echo in our house. I love Apple. I hate Google, I hate Amazon (yet buy from their website) but my relationship with Apple is borderline unhealthy (heck, I have a closet full of Apple shirts and rock rainbow Apple stickers on my cars. I bought my last car because it has CarPlay and have met Steve jobs three times and been to Macworld 10 times.


and I don't have a HomePod.

I hope someone at Apple reads this and understands that when one of your biggest fans in the world doesn't buy one of your products, you have a lot of work to do.

 

[spazzcat]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but quoting Apple's ad copy doesn't help your argument. It just sounds like you're parroting Apple's bullet points. You're more than capable of conveying your thoughts independent of Apple's marketing terminology. Just my opinion of course.

On topic: Imo, the HP starts off handicapped because Apple wants it that way. They are more interested in getting people invested in the ecosystem than simply selling a speaker. If they wanted stellar sales they would have made the speaker more accessible outside of the garden. Add BT connectivity and couple of other i/o options and you have a speaker with good sound and a higher level of desirability beyond the core Apple fan... Siri notwithstanding. They built a speaker that requires iOS and makes music outside of AM an undesirable prospect.

HomePod are for people already invested in ecosystem. I have no issues with their walled garden. They are not going to add BT when it has Airplay and soon Airplay 2.

 

[Mojo1019]

If sales are in fact poor, one way that Apple could boost interest is by offering a more affordable HomePod, and today's report echoes rumors about a possible lower-priced version.

OMG PLS lower the price of this version!!!

 

[spazzcat]

I buy every single thing that Apple makes. I've owned every generation of product they've made since 1997 except some PowerMac / Mac Pro models. Hell, I even bought an Xserve because I think it was a beautiful machine

I did not buy a HomePod. Why?

1. Siri is still too dumb. My house is entirely HomeKit based and I walk around talking to my watch and Siri fails many times to get this right.
2. Doesn't support multiple timers (I had an Echo in the house but we have to use it for now)
3. Doesn't support Multiple Music services. GF Prefers Pandora and I prefer Apple Music
4. No AirPlay 2 Support
5. Price is double a lot of other speakers (yeah, I know it sounds good)

I have a Sonos 3 a Dot and an Echo in our house. I love Apple. I hate Google, I hate Amazon (yet buy from their website) but my relationship with Apple is borderline unhealthy (heck, I have a closet full of Apple shirts and rock rainbow Apple stickers on my cars. I bought my last car because it has CarPlay and have met Steve jobs three times and been to Macworld 10 times.


and I don't have a HomePod.

I hope someone at Apple reads this and understands that when one of your biggest fans in the world doesn't buy one of your products, you have a lot of work to do.

You have Sonos Play:3 which cost the same as HomePod, but the HomePod cost too much? You realize the Play:3 is much closer to the hardware in the HP, really more like the Play:5. HomePod is amazing with HomeKit stuff. My Echo has been moved to the basement, HP is just too fast.
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OMG PLS lower the price of this version!!!

Not going to happened.

 

[dwsolberg]

I think much of the smart speaker "phenom" is overrated. I don't want to talk to my home, and I am sure most others don't want to as well.

That might be you haven't tried it. It doesn't sound like it would be that useful, but you might be surprised.

Noticing that we're out of peanut butter, I just say, "Alexa, add peanut butter to the Target list." Our bedroom lights are far away from the bed, so it's useful to tell Alexa to turn off the lights at night. It also makes a great radio without tuning or static. I like to listen to our local public radio. If I'm leaving the house, and others have left misc lights on, I can just say turn off all the lights. I can also say turn the furnace down to 64. None of this is something that you couldn't do another way, but it really does feel nice.

 

[GPDawes]

An apple price correction due to the strengthened £ and weaker $ is well over due.
That could reduce homepod prices and give a boost to sales in the UK.

 

[69Mustang]

HomePod are for people already invested in ecosystem. I have no issues with their walled garden. They are not going to add BT when it has Airplay and soon Airplay 2.

I'm not really sure of the point your trying to make. Why are you talking about issues with the walled garden?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

They are not going to take a loss on it, Apple doesn't do loss leaders. I believe the raw parts cost was around $265.

Edit: And is before software development, marketing, etc...

But we really have zero idea what Apple's raw part cost is. They don't pay off the shelf wholesale prices and much of its devices innards are custom anyway. But I have a hard time believing the HP costs more to make than an iPad.

And Apple does do loss leaders, it's just not common. Originally iTune Music Store was a "break even" to small loss proposition as bait to get people to buy Apple hardware. Currently Apple Music is in the same category. Apple Music is not profitable, but it's an important too for Apple to grow hardware sales. Apple is trying to turn Apple Music into a unique service rather than "me too," for that reason.

 

[spazzcat]

I'm not really sure of the point your trying to make. Why are you talking about issues with the walled garden?

I may have mixed two different people comments .

 

[macfacts]

Which will happen first? Siri improving or HomePod price drop?

 

[spazzcat]

My Target has had the same two HomePods (one black, one white) in stock for weeks.

HomePod is an underwhelming product. Both my wife and daughter miss the old Sonos: Play 1 we had before HomePod.

Why do they miss the Sonos 1? The HP is so much better in sound and it has voice control (assuming you are using Apple Music).

 

[TonyC28]

Obviously plenty of Apple enthusiasts exist who will disagree, but is this news really that surprising? It's an overpriced speaker and the brains behind it (Siri) aren't that great. I've posted it before and I'll post it again: Apple missed the mark with this thing. There should have been less emphasis on sound quality and more emphasis on it being a home assistant.

 

[Precursor]

I think it is kinda too expensive for what it is

 

[SBlue1]

Apple for sure does not know what this thing is supposed to be. For a smart device, this thing is as dumb as it gets. For a great speaker it lacks all the things a great speaker needs. I just checked the HomePod website and I can't find the basic things like what kind of input it has and the frequency range it is capable of. These are basics if you are buying speakers!

 

[Regime2008]

Once it supports stereo sound, I think you will be hard pressed to assemble a full system for music listening that outperforms 2 HomePods for $700, and certainly not one as compact and beautiful as Apple's offering. As someone who moves frequently and lives in a small apartment, I will be very tempted to sell my bulky, costly stereo gear in favor of a two small, powered, wireless speakers. Any Siri ability is only a bonus in my mind (although I understand others' gripes).

I fully admit this product may not please most, and may not be a public success, but as a semi-audiophile, I am really happy to see a company like Apple point it's R&D dollars and engineering expertise in this direction. I hope they do for audio reproduction what they have done for digital photography and image processing.

Do some people truly believe that $350/$700 pair of speakers, can't run circles, and have a clear night and day advantage over a single/duo homepod? This truly saddens me that some believe Apple's hype to the point that they dismiss the majority of superior products for something subpar.

 

[DNichter]

I think much of the smart speaker "phenom" is overrated. I don't want to talk to my home, and I am sure most others don't want to as well.

Have to agree here. We have a few Echo's in our house, mainly for HomeKit stuff, but we honestly got tired of asking Alexa to turn on and off the lights (I know, super lazy haha). We ended up getting motion sensors that do it all for us. Now I never use them.