That overblown. I always set a speaker on a thin foam pad. They are in all shapes and colors. Most likely would not even see if sized correctly.
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HomePod Costs an Estimated $216 to Make
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That overblown. I always set a speaker on a thin foam pad. They are in all shapes and colors. Most likely would not even see if sized correctly.
In my opinion, not too long. Someone with the aggressiveness of Steve Jobs is needed to turn this company around before it goes off the "slippery slope". Under Tim Cook's tenure, Apple has become a follower and not a leader. Apple needs to become, once again, a tech company that OTHER tech companies aspire to become and NOT a tech company that follows what other companies are doing.
NB Reasonable relative to cost - not value (I have no desire for a HomePod)...
My thought too (and I'm in the industry). $60 for the lighting system... no.
This proves that to the cost can't be this high. Apple will never ever sell under cost!
Adding to the above the corporate and departmental management overhead costs it is conceivable that $350 for HomePod 1 could be a break-even price or even a loss leader. The fact that the manufacturing process uses a lot of glue (iFixit) instead of precision screws for assembly -- a quick and dirty way to go -- seems to indicate that Apple needs to reduce its loss on each unit ... but that's just my humble opinion. IF Apple is actually sustaining a loss on each unit sold then the real purpose of the HomePod 1 could be to encourage more folks to sign up for an annual subscription to Apple Music.
How is 38% “vert tight” when TVs can go down in the single digits? Maybe not their usual huge margin but surely not “very tight.”
Because the overhead costs of support, maintenance and R&D are an order of magnitude more for the HomePod than for a generic TV. Those costs are not in the price.
Source: electronic engineer (including many years as a product manager) for 2 decades
This is a very tight margin in the consumer space Apple prefers to be in. They’re not playing in single digit margins in any space, because their goal is the premium market rather than playing the volume game for pennies on every sale.
To lump Apple in with the industry as a whole continued to ignore that since the iPod era Apple has explicitly targeting the high margin low volume game (which looking at their financials is clearly a winning strategy).
This is the best $350 I’ve spent in years. HomePod is amazing!
How about a “smart” TV that gets regular firmware updates? Seems like pretty similar tech really and Apple is able to amortize many fixed costs by selling huge quantities.
I’m not arguing the margin should be razor thin, but I take issue with the notion that a margin under 50% IS razor thin. Apple products are often sold at less than full retail and I doubt they are losing any money there when looking at their profits.
38% is left over to recover costs of R&D. Also, that 38% needs to cover costs of shipping of the unit to the customer. Furthermore, factor in that still doesn't take into account MOE costs. Having a 38% left over as gross margin quite usually means little to no EBIT which is earnings without taxes.
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Agreed. However with Siri how can you state "a push into the living room?" Do you mean a push into the Walled Garden Living Room? As in pushing out competition currently in place?
I see very little demand outside Applefiles inside the Walled Garden due to Siri's Apple only Algorithms.
Potato v Pótátó
In the end, Apple is taking a hit to ensure further intergration into the ecosystem.
So in other words they prefer to operate in a space with healthy margins. I agree with this. Not counter to my point at all.
Or maybe they'll complain about the lack of obvious features on a $350 product. People don't care how much it cost Apple to build. What they care about is what they get for $350. I was moderately interested in Homepod until I learned that it doesn't even support Bluetooth. How ridiculous is that? I wouldn't pay even half the price for this thing. No idea what Apple's thinking, but the lack of features killed it for me.
Yes, your years of experience in the field and in the Supply Chain certainly show. Please tell me more...
If you are going to make claims like those, back them up.
There is so much back end costs on selling hardware that these posts do not take into account.
Margins are very tight on this stuff because there is so much competition.
Probably the reason why the Apple always discontinues these types of devices
http://www.techedgeezine.com/images/al_m602_shootout/apple_ipod_hifi_inside.jpg
668732d1496931592-mono-back-apple-speaker-screen-shot-2017-06-08-7.18.55-am.jpg
I agree with your general idea of people wanting to stay Apple anyways.
I agree with Apple watch. Best smart watch out there. Perfect companion IOT to iPhone
Airpods I agree with partially, I’ve seen quite a few android users lovingly using their airpods with their phones.
HomePod is a strong arm lock in to Apple Music. They should open it up for Spotify APIs and just be smarter.
It’s still an anchor, especially if you have to have an iPhone to get it running — despite great sound. Not the case with airpods
Especially since you don't want any vibrations from the speakers to get transmitted into your furniture which may create unwanted sound on its own.That overblown. I always set a speaker on a thin foam pad. They are in all shapes and colors. Most likely would not even see if sized correctly.
The pricing is definitely fair.
Perhaps it just seems a lot to people for "a speaker" if they aren't used to paying that much for quality speakers.
Not sure why this article made this decision clearer for me, but: I'll purchase a second HomePod this weekend, for my mother / when I see her. Still on the fence if I'll be buying a second HomePod for myself though, depends on the stereo effect and how well it surrounds. But it's good to know that it's not over-priced.
Perhaps it just seems a lot to people for "a speaker" if they aren't used to paying that much for quality speakers.
Not sure why this article made this decision clearer for me, but: I'll purchase a second HomePod this weekend, for my mother / when I see her. Still on the fence if I'll be buying a second HomePod for myself though, depends on the stereo effect and how well it surrounds. But it's good to know that it's not over-priced.
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Not sure how this leaves them with any money to pay for their spaceship campus and legal fees, let alone everything else.