HomePod Estimated to Have 3 Million Sales and 6% Market Share in United States

[gnasher729]

Good point, but your matched music is at a lower quality than my cd ripped music.
Plus, why do I have to pay to listen to music I already own?
I don't need Apple Music nor do I want yet another monthly fee.

Lots of matched music is actually created from 192 KHz / 24 bit samples. It _can_ be as good as CD quality. It is definitely better than any lossy rip from CDs.
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You’d think buying a handful of $350 units would be enough for convenience surcharge but I guess not, it costs an extra $120 year for lower quality music.

Where do you pay $120 for lower quality music? And really, if Apple manages to build a $350 speaker where you can hear the difference between 256 Kbit AAC and CDs, then this speaker is a bargain.
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Mastered for iTunes is still lossy is it not?
I already own a ton of music, not interested in paying for it again.

Lossy from 192 KBit/s / 24 bit masters. Your CD is lossy as well by throwing away lots of data.
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Sounds like you're not familiar with lossless vs lossy compression and it's effect on music quality.

In short, most recorded music quality keeps dropping (lp>cd>mp3) and most people just say ok fine.

Seems you are not familiar with the difference that the master makes. Now seriously, if you think that LPs sound better than CDs then you are imagining things. "Made for iTunes" and CDs start with the same masters. CDs just throw away 85 percent of the data, while AAC compression does its best to throw away data without reducing what you hear in quality.

 

[lec0rsaire]

3,000,000 is a heck of a lot more than I thought. So these have actually been a success. $1.05 billion in revenue is really not bad and I’m sure they will keep selling more as they bring out revisions.

 

[KanosWRX]

All I know is I wouldn't pay a dime for Amazon's junk, Alexa has always been rated the worst when it comes to AI and giving good results back.. I know why they have a huge market share.. but I don't know why anyone would buy one of those today.

 

[tubular]

Got two, considering a third.

Yes, it's meant mostly as an Apple Music delivery device, but if what you listen to isn't the hottest latest newest now-est, Siri's capabilities suffer in the long tail.

So I use my stereo-pair as Airplay speakers, and use the iOS Remote app (remember it?) to control my music server, where lots of lossless rips are sitting. Lossless rip losslessly transmitted to a digital speaker. And that's plenty fine by me.

The real cost comes in keeping the metadata sanitary, for Remote. But I've given that rant here before too many times.

 

[Keirasplace]

Apple will have to vastly improve their front end (Siri) and backend services, and lower the price of their unit dramatically to catch Amazon.

The quality of the speaker is somewhat secondary since you can always plug an external speaker into $39 echo dot, or even connect the dot to a AV system.

People, me included, have 5 or 6 dots scattered around their homes. I even one of mine in of the many 3rd party portable speaker with battery enclosures. This provides us with music, news, shopping, etc. in the backyard. We also use them as intercoms connecting everyone in the house.

Those other speakers are in no way comparable to this speaker, you are NOT getting the same product.
Man, I can't believe the "logic" in those comments.

 

[The Game 161]

Got two, considering a third.

Yes, it's meant mostly as an Apple Music delivery device, but if what you listen to isn't the hottest latest newest now-est, Siri's capabilities suffer in the long tail.

So I use my stereo-pair as Airplay speakers, and use the iOS Remote app (remember it?) to control my music server, where lots of lossless rips are sitting. Lossless rip losslessly transmitted to a digital speaker. And that's plenty fine by me.

The real cost comes in keeping the metadata sanitary, for Remote. But I've given that rant here before too many times.

I have two and love having two now

The carrying on listening in other rooms is great. If they bring out a mini I would consider getting that for the kitchen

 

[Heineken]

Those other speakers are in no way comparable to this speaker, you are NOT getting the same product.
Man, I can't believe the "logic" in those comments.

I like their “logic” too

 

[macskiman]

And I’m about to buy a 3rd! One part of my Home is too distant to ask Siri to put something on my shopping list, to turn a light on or off, to play some music, to set a timer, to give me the news, to send a text message, to ask the weather forecast, to tell me what I have on for the week.

I have the 3rd and dreaming of a 4th. Regarding the sound, it is wonderful. I saw someone comment that the HomePod is too bass heavy. As a lover of opera and classical music (as well as pop and country), it seems to me it's all about the source material. I find the sound just fine for classical -- and not too heavy on bass when I listened to some organ music yesterday. However, when it comes to pop, some music has great bass, unbelievable for the size of the speaker. My impression is that it's in the recordings. Rap seems to have wonderful, thumping, deep base and a Celine Dion song, just the right amount of bass. I listened to a recording of Ol' Man River and the low notes from the performer sounded great. It's too bad many only get to hear these speakers in the store, where listening conditions are far from optimal.

And, the volume?!? The HomePod can be quite audible in the shower, although the speaker is outside the bathroom -- and with no distortion!

 

[ErikGrim]

Other than my starter Power Computing clone....I’ve been all in with Apple...had the HomePod on Day 1 .....imagine my nausea when the incomprehensible fact that the 16+ gigs of iTunes music I have purchased over time and dozens of playlists created would not be easily accessible, nor would i be able to use voice commands to launch playlists....

Uhm. You can. "Hey Siri, play playlist "Recently Added" from my library".
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Sounds like you're not familiar with lossless vs lossy compression and it's effect on music quality.

In short, most recorded music quality keeps dropping (lp>cd>mp3) and most people just say ok fine.

You thinking LPs have better quality than CDs shows exactly how much you know about sound quality.

 

[DNichter]

I’m tempted to get a second one, does it sound a lot better using airplay 2?,

Yes, definitely sounds better. I had mine set up about 6 feet apart in my living room at first, but opted to get rid of my echo's and have 1 in the master bedroom and 1 in the living room. Now, from anywhere in the house, Siri can hear me, and multi room music support works really well. It's been flawless in my eyes.

 

[ipedro]

I love mine and wouldn’t want to live without it. Seems like a trivial difference but I listen to way more music since I can just ask out into the air to play some music. Apple Music really comes alive with HomePod. It’s gotten to know not only my musical tastes way more accurately but my routines.

I’m getting one for the bedroom next.

 

[k1121j]

This is pretty impressive, if they make a HomePod mini I think it could take a sizable chunk of market share.
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It's competing with Sonos...
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How exactly do you make a speaker obsolete?

Apparently you don’t own Apple products do you. It’s called software my friend

 

[Uofmtiger]

Apparently you don’t own Apple products do you. It’s called software my friend

Not gonna happen anytime soon....definitely not in 3 years like the initial post claimed.

I have older receivers and they used the universal standard of component video for HD. They were essentially made obsolete for video with HDCP and HDMI. It isn't just software that becomes an issue with audio devices. The hardware can change, as well.

Personally, I don't think of the Homepod as a dumb speaker. It has an amp and computer inside for Siri. It may have a shorter shelf life than speakers from the 70s, but it doesn't really matter to me if does what I need for several years...TVs, receivers, computers, phones, tablets, etc... all fit that same criteria and most of them cost more than a HomePod and age faster.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Just picked up a second and set it up as a stereo pair. The sound is really good. I’ll probably pick up another later on.

 

[iSayuSay]

I’ve been a Spotify user for almost 4 years, but finally switched to Apple Music since I bought a HomePod back in March.

Apple Music discovery seems a bit worse compared to Spotify, just a tiny bit.. But the convenience of telling Siri to play any music I want outshines Spotify. I believe I’m not the only switcher just because of this little speaker. I believe not even Amazon or Google can make people totally switch from other services just because one little speaker. It sounds great (for its size), that’s the key selling point.

Just like Apple Music, slowly and surely it will take out smart speaker market, maybe as 2nd or 3rd contender but with healthy and sustainable margin. It’s the complete package for my phone, my home and my car infotainment, just as usual with  ecosystem.
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....

I have older receivers and they used the universal standard of component video for HD. They were essentially made obsolete for video with HDCP and HDMI. It isn't just software that becomes an issue with audio devices. The hardware can change, as well.

Something like Apple TV can help with that. It prolongs the life of your AV receiver. I have relatively old Marantz AVR from 2013, sounds fantastic. It already has HDMI 1.4 and AirPlay, but not AirPlay 2. It slows as F when crunching around the system menu. But since I have ATV 4K, it's bound to the AVR so it's AirPlay 2 compatible, with HDMI control they will turn on and off together. So yeah it's the one extension that significantly improve my AVR, indirectly.

Now if ATV can have Siri voice feedback and fuller command with the remote, it would probably make my HomePod obsolete, since musically, it's something I can't unhear, being hooked into some 80lbs front stereo with dedicated midrange woofer (unfair, I know).