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HomePod is Ninth Most Popular Smart Speaker in United States According to Recent Survey

Mac4Brains said:
Apple has made several attempts to produce good speakers. All failed due to a combination of compatibility and price.

I still have a iSub that does not work on any intel Mac, and that is USB so it is simply not supported by apple anymore.
The only reference I can find for the older Apple Hi-Fi speakers is the original press release.

I am quite sure there are more but they don't come to mind.

Apple needs to:
USE THE DAMM UNIVERSAL SPEAKER PLUG AND STOP USING PROPRIETARY CONNECTORS
support the speaker after it is released.
price them so they are worth it.

I spent $350 on good speakers I got in the late 1990's that I am still using six computers later.
the iSub I got with my one of my Mac's only ever worked on that computer.

Now to push you into getting Apple made speakers they are more focused on removing the industry standard 3.5mm connectors to push you to use the overpriced junk they make. In order to use good speakers you may already have you need to dish out an extra $10 to do so.

In the end I can go on an extended rant on how I am starting to dislike Tim Cook.
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Yep. It's completely ridiculous that a speaker needs to have a list of compatible devices in the first place. Then you see that list only includes iOS devices and it has no chance.
 
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Seems silly to say it's in 9th place as everything ahead of it is an Amazon Echo or a Google Home product. Easier to just say they're in 3rd with 4%, behind Amazon who has 38% and Google who has 17%.

I'm curious about where the rest of the 40% of the market is... are those just more Amazon and Google products, or is there another smart speaker people are buying?
 
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I cannot speak regarding any of Apple's other speakers, just to say that I bought an Apple Hi-Fi when they were being phased out a long time ago. It was an open box model in the store (back when our local Apple Store had such a thing). I cannot remember what I paid for it. We still have it. It has a stereo plug in the back, which is the ONLY reason we can still use it. If we had to rely on the 30 pin dock connector (which btw also required your device to fit into it!) it would be a very heavy paperweight.

Mac4Brains said:
Apple has made several attempts to produce good speakers. All failed due to a combination of compatibility and price.

I still have a iSub that does not work on any intel Mac, and that is USB so it is simply not supported by apple anymore.
The only reference I can find for the older Apple Hi-Fi speakers is the original press release.

I am quite sure there are more but they don't come to mind.

Apple needs to:
USE THE DAMM UNIVERSAL SPEAKER PLUG AND STOP USING PROPRIETARY CONNECTORS
support the speaker after it is released.
price them so they are worth it.

I spent $350 on good speakers I got in the late 1990's that I am still using six computers later.
the iSub I got with my one of my Mac's only ever worked on that computer.

Now to push you into getting Apple made speakers they are more focused on removing the industry standard 3.5mm connectors to push you to use the overpriced junk they make. In order to use good speakers you may already have you need to dish out an extra $10 to do so.

In the end I can go on an extended rant on how I am starting to dislike Tim Cook.
Click to expand...
 
Greenmeenie said:
Maybe I am in the minority, but I cannot imagine myself ever having one of these things in my home. Ever.
Click to expand...

Ever is a long time, but I'm with you for how these things currently operate and the limitations they all have. I don't see the need at the moment, but it's pretty easy to see a future where something like it is in just about every home.
 
MacRumors said:
While the HomePod may have only a single-digit share of the overall market, Strategy Analytics shared data last month indicating that Apple accounts for 70 percent of the small but growing $200-plus smart speaker market, topping competing products such as the Google Home Max and a variety of Sonos speakers.
Click to expand...
I never liked equating marketshare to the better overall product. There has been countless examples in history where the better product was outsold by competition with a lessor product.

Windows 95 is a great example.

MacRumors said:
That data shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as Amazon Echo and Google Home models are regularly priced as low as $49, whereas the HomePod retails for $349.
Click to expand...

People really didn't have an issue comparing the much more expensive iPod to the much cheaper competition.
 
MVallee said:
I started out not really seeing the usefulness in HomePods or smart speakers in general (despite already owning tons of HomeKit accessories) but I picked one up anyway, mainly to use as a speaker. Now I have 3 of them and love how useful they are. Siri is very responsive and easy to use and I love how natural sounding the responses are. The mics can pick up my voice clear across the house and its so easy to control my smart devices that I've already starting adding even more HomeKit devices to my house. I have a few speakers with Alexa (Sonos One) and I very quickly disabled the smart assistant feature. Alexa never understands me or it would listen and then not complete my request without giving any audio cues as to why. I found you had to be very careful to use specific wording in order to get the correct response, and the responses sounded robotic. The HomePod feels like I'm talking to a person and has been easy enough for guests to control with very little instruction. They might be pricey but they work great and sound amazing.
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I don't believe you are a real person.
 
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Amazon has the same strategy as google. They'll give services away free or cheap because that's a gateway to their revenue. Alexa is just that, it helps Amazon sign people up to the ever price increasing Prime Membership and sell stuff from their website. Google uses its services to sell to adverts. But Apple only sells hardware, there is no back end profit for them. That's why their stuff costs more.
 
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Google and Amazon are literally giving those things away as subsidized tchotchkes through hundreds of different product purchases and service partnerships. Apple can't compete with that.

Despite all the groupthink about Siri not being good, it has outperformed my Google Home on most of my daily voice tasks that I have put head to head. For one area - Siri blows Google out of the water on sports related questions and it is not close.
 
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If you’re into Apple Music (I am, an excellent deal at $8.25/month), HomePod is a great speaker. Always on, nothing to boot up. It just works. And sounds great!
 
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NightFox said:
What do you mean by Atmos support? Surely without an Atmos speaker setup (i.e. ceiling-mounted or up-firing speakers) it would be totally pointless, or am I misunderstanding what you’re hoping for?
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I didn't mean to imply that HomePod is suitable beyond 7 traditional channels.

While it is bassy, it's not a subwoofer. And while it can be mounted on the ceiling, its unidirectional nature make it less ideal for 4 overhead channels.

Apple needs to make upward-firing speakers and subwoofer to complete the picture, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy 5 more HomePods for 7 channels.
 
Thai is impressive. They essentially own the high end smart speaker market.

You can laugh and say no one else competes, but it’s already beating the Google Home Max and various Adonis offerings.

Likely, Apple will release a cheaper version and carve out a nice niche.

Remember, iPhone doesn’t have large share overall, but they own the top end market.
 
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FSMBP said:
With an infamous assistant and the high price, that's what happens. I know people say it's an amazing speaker (and it probably is), but clearly the market doesn't necessarily want that.

If I could hook it it up to me TV (in lieu of a soundbar), I'd buy one.
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Having ability to connect to TV would make it interesting. With HDMI control support even Siri might be useful. Then again, competitors (Amazon, Google and Sonos) are pushing more products out with more features and lower prices. Unfortunately HomePod is looking more and more like Apple Hi-Fi, which was excellent product but failed find its customers.
 
My wife and I have been wanting to buy a quality portable Bluetooth speaker for a while. The only reason I would consider this would be for the sound quality. I have these questions about it.
1) Does the speaker have to be plugged into the wall or can it charge and/or accept batteries?
2) Does the paired phone have to be on the same network (WiFi) as it or can it actually connect via Bluetooth?
 
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