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

DoubleFlyaway said:
I've been waiting for a smart speaker from Apple, and even I didn't buy. I'm not an audiophile, and for me the point of a smart speaker is that the "assistant" work really well. I would pay the price if Siri worked better.
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Go buy yourself a Echo dot and a good Bluetooth speaker. Or even better, a Sonos One. You will never ever look back. Warning!!!- Alexia is addictive.
 
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I'm not spending that much money on a speaker just to wait 2 years for Apple to improve Siri to the point that the other assistants are at *today*. Also, you're stuck on Apple music as the only playback option unless you pair your phone. Nope and nope.

If Best Buy cuts the price in half I'll probably pick one up though.
 
TonyC28 said:
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.
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That is the market you wanted Apple to go after, Apple may not be going for that market, and we have no idea if Apple is hitting their numbers as we don't know their number or how many have been sold...
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barkomatic said:
I'm not spending that much money on a speaker just to wait 2 years for Apple to improve Siri to the point that the other assistants are at *today*. Also, you're stuck on Apple music as the only playback option unless you pair your phone. Nope and nope.

If Best Buy cuts the price in half I'll probably pick one up though.
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Or you can buy a HP and enjoy it over the next two years and enjoy it more as they add new features to it...
 
Mr Fusion said:
No one that values audio quality would subscribe to Apple Music or use iTunes (with its noted lack of FLAC support. ALAC conversions are a waste of time.)
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Agreed. A majority of people who buy these smart speakers are perfectly satisfied by the audio quality of their Amazon/Google “ladies in a can.” They’re not audiophiles in any respect, “does it get loud enough to fill the room during a party” is the extent of their evaluative criteria.
 
Drop the price and add the ability to easily play Spotify and I’m in. Not bothering to use work arounds at that cost
 
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Aluminum213 said:
Apple releasing a dumb speaker for $350 isn’t going to be acceptable in 2018

Siri can’t even set two timers at once on the thing haha
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And not only that... the HomePod is a clear ripoff from the Aura from Harmon Kardon which sounds better and has more connectivity options.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/32475629/Harman-Kardon-AURA

70451b32475629.568a232f0641e.jpg

de7db332475629.568a232f076c7.jpg

effecd32475629.56b1c9742f69a.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B01HDC247O

and this one is even cheaper too!

Oh wait... didn't Samsung bought Harmon Kardon????
 
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macam said:
If they reduced the price - they might get more sales... Just going to leave that on the table and let is stew.
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And if they gave them away, perhaps everyone would get (at least) one. ;)

But I know what you are saying: even Apple is not immune to value proposition beyond the fans who will pay anything FOR anything they roll out and work double-time to try to convince everyone else why they should love it exactly as Apple chose to put it together too. Historic Apple delivered obvious value- either by being first to market with something new+amazing or "wait around until they get something right" and be obviously superior after coming to market later than established rivals. People beyond the fans would enthusiastically line up for those products.

Now, even some of the fans are posting comments like "I am a fan boy, but..." and "I generally buy everything Apple, but...". If THIS crowd is questioning the value proposition, imagine how it is for those who do not partake (of the koolaid). After the recent software update where Apple decided to "evolve" the EQ settings, some fans are writing they like the old EQ settings better and how they wish they could customize the EQ settings to their own tastes. Will Apple bring on such features? Or does Apple know best for all? (rhetorical: we all know, don't we?)

HP seems to be Apple great in many ways... "but" somewhat hamstrung by rolling out with:
  • promises for key features in the future,
  • thoroughly locked into the Apple- and only Apple- ecosystem for full-featured use, yet
  • priced at the top of it's class.
That's a challenging combination beyond the "Apple can do no wrong" viewpoint:
  • The bulk of the "smarts" are already available for less than half price in :apple:TV hooked to whatever quality of speakers anyone could want, probably/possibly already have, and ALREADY capable of a true stereo connection without waiting & waiting on "just one software update away...". Plus, :apple:TV ALREADY has alternative music apps like Pandora and Tidal and works great with our own CD rips instead of almost requiring a subscription to AM.
  • The quality of the speaker can be easily beaten by choosing whatever quality of speaker someone wants- and probably already has- and hooking it to an :apple:TV setup, or buying any old Dot-type option and getting smarter "smarts" to boot.
None of this is meant to say "HP is doomed" or "Apple is doomed" or anyone is stupid for buying an HP- just pointing out a point of view that is not at the extremes:
  • "Before HP, there were no good speakers" & "I could not hear music until I heard HP" vs.
  • "HP is the worst speaker ever made" & "...ripoff..." etc.
IMO, what should Apple do here:
  • Significantly smarten Siri beyond Alexa, Google & Cortana. What historically wows consumers of Apple products beyond moments like "big reveal" and "first unboxing" is actually the "just works" software, not the hardware. It's also the dominant and hard-to-quickly-copy differentiator for Apple. Siri "as is" misses here. Aren't we basically wanting something akin to Jarvis from Iron Man vs. a market of maybe teenager or middle school-level sophistication vs. "our" option (relatively) seeming like a first or second-grader? An Apple "Smart" Speaker should be smartEST! While Jarvis may be pie-in-the-sky, Jarvis Jr? Jarvis Jr. Jr? Or at least Alexa++ or Google++.
  • Open it up to third party audio options, so that it doesn't seem to be so thoroughly locked down to Apple and only Apple. The arguably equivalent option from Sonos works with like 30+ other music services right out of the box, including all of the majors not named AM (and AM too). Software versatility beyond Apple's own offerings made the iPhone the hit that it is. Macs & iPads ride the wave of third-party software attractions too. "If it ain't broke..." ESPECIALLY if the fix(?) is basically self-serving, lock-in.
  • Make Bluetooth functionality work beyond only setting HP up. This crowd has passionately argued FOR Bluetooth to rationalize getting rid of the headphone jack in ONE Apple product. Apparently there IS Bluetooth-capable hardware inside this thing but it can't also be used as a Bluetooth speaker. If Bluetooth is so good nobody needs a headphone jack anymore, at least make this even newer product Bluetooth "the future" capable too.
  • Roll out an updated model with an AUX port so that it can easily be used to play other stuff too. 10+ years ago, iPod HiFi had an AUX port and people are still enjoying that connection. That's the nature of a speaker product: they last for many, MANY years. Will a thoroughly locked-down HP be pretty usable 5 years from now? 3 years? One dirt-cheap AUX port would practically guarantee that even if Cupertino sunk into the ocean.
  • Hear the segment of the crowd that wants an Apple solution for home theater, particularly something to be Apple audio playback for :apple:TV. HP Soundbar? HPs that can function as 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound (not faux surround, but the real thing: 5 or 7 HPs plus a HP sub setup).
  • What else?
Using a mountain of cash-on-hand shortcut: Buy Sonos. Certainly if Beats was a good acquisition- for whatever reasoning to which one wants to latch- a Sonos acquisition with optionally rebranded hardware could shortcut from lone HP speaker that is mono+ or stereo- (depending on how one wants to classify HP) to high-quality speaker SYSTEM options that ALREADY work well with the Apple ecosystem and ALREADY address most of the above bullets. Plus an acquisition buys Sonos expertise entirely and singularly focused on speakers that would join the Apple team and continue that focused work on this part of business. PLUS, it eliminates the most obvious quality-branded competitor to HP at the same time.

$2XX Billion in cash laying around could easily turn Apple strategic thrusts into fuller solutions without having to build it from scratch. Stories have said that THIS HP is the result of 6 years of work at Apple. Acquire Sonos and have a whole, well-proven HP product mix to (re)rollout in 2019 that scratches many consumer itches instead of still trying to make a single HP product cover all such bases. Or is even Apple interested in trying to cover all such bases?

Just my opinions. Certainly others will differ.
 
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Sadly, I don't think I'd even pay $50 for one. Siri is not very good and my home is already set up with Google Home's. I think most people who'd use this already have Alexa or Google. If Apple was going to be so late to the party, they really needed to make a killer unit.
 
This is bad news. Must be why AAPL has been climbing for the past two days.

That being said, I can't find a single compelling reason to purchase any brand of these smart speakers.
 
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Apple should realize for some products, price matters.

Maybe not a MacBook Pro, but it's a stretch to get consumers to pay $350 on a 'smart' speaker.
 
I don't own HomePod. I have two echo dots for my kids. I just picked up a Google home mini from my work because of the performance points, I was not gonna buy one. But it's free, so what the heck. I set it up and I was surprised that when I asked for my calendar events, it refused to tell me any because the voice match was not setup. Also, I just ask it to okay some music and it played some music. Sounded decent/good for casual listening. I don't have any music service subscription. So it's well and serves my casual listening purpose.

Now, on HomePod, do I need to subscribe to apple music or it will play music without any subscription?
 
dwsolberg said:
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.
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Out of curiosity, how much did you have to spend to get all those things working? And can you do the same with the HP when you are away from the house?
 
Cook must think we're stupid if he tries some FUD about the news stories. People look to past Apple experience when considering the success of products. That is, if it were a success then Apple would be trumpeting that from the roof tops, e.g. 40m Apple Music subs. But the silence speaks volumes for the sales of the HomePod. It's the same story about the iWatch which has no numbers. Both flops and both that which Cook bet the company on.
 
Folks, this is speculation. NO ONE but Apple knows how HomePod is doing, period.

We do know Apple added 2M PAID Apple Music subscribers in less than 1 month. This is probably somewhat related to HomePod.

We also know Apple is probably working on a lower priced version of HomePod, regardless.
 
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dogslobber said:
Cook must think we're stupid if he tries some FUD about the news stories. People look to past Apple experience when considering the success of products. That is, if it were a success then Apple would be trumpeting that from the roof tops, e.g. 40m Apple Music subs. But the silence speaks volumes for the sales of the HomePod. It's the same story about the iWatch which has no numbers. Both flops and both that which Cook bet the company on.
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Apple Watch has numbers. It's a solid, established product at this point. It started out with no numbers, I agree there. I think they'll figure out how to solve their HomePod sales problem. Probably by releasing a smaller, less expensive model and allowing 3rd party app support.
 
Regime2008 said:
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. :(
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Welcome to the fandom. If Apple would only bottle air, a chunk of this crowd would smother to death rather than dare breathe the inferior, abomination that is non-Apple air. ;)
 
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deanthedev said:
Complete BS.

I’m an audiophile and can’t wait to get a couple HomePods for use around my house.
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Out of curiosity, since you claim to be an "audiophile", what are you going to do about the missing sub frequencies, or how to bring out the lacking mids more, and how can you flatten the adulterated sound signature that Apple layers its tracks with? I would have figured someone who does production and recording, would not settle for sub-par equipment.
 
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