A million people don’t just listen to memes and get what they think is best, yes.
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HomePod Sales May Be Closer to 1-1.5 Million Than 3 Million Since the Speaker Launched
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I’ll second the questioning the logic of comparing it to a significantly inferior product that sells for less than $100. I LOVE my HomePod. I travel more or less every day and its the first thing in my suitcase and the first thing out in each city. I find myself listening to music so much more these days, and also (more importantly) listen to new songs, and full albums more than I used to. On my phone and headphones, I tend to be impatient and only listen to familiar music, where as when I have it on in the background, I tend to be open to more variety.
Also love it for white noise or some other sort of go to sleep music at the end of the day. Niche or not, it is a great speaker
Also love it for white noise or some other sort of go to sleep music at the end of the day. Niche or not, it is a great speaker
they might want to bring the price down or make several different levels of these.
Amazon kills it with the 4 different price points
Im all apple at home-phone-watch etc...but Echo for this category till they make a cheaper version.
Amazon kills it with the 4 different price points
Im all apple at home-phone-watch etc...but Echo for this category till they make a cheaper version.
We picked up the HomePod shortly after the launch, it was a terrible experience with Siri. In fact, my wife was so upset with it she stopped using it all together. So, I took it back and picked up the Google Home Max. It has some serious distortion at the 80%-100% volume range. However, it is so ridiculously loud at that range we have never crossed the 75% range in our home. Even with the distortion issue at the higher volume it is a superior experience because of the google assistant.
We don't use it for much more than music, interaction with our smart home tech, and timers for cooking. Siri wouldn't allow multiple timers a no go for anyone doing true cooking. Plus, Siri rarely proves useful. Apple's failure in the smart speaker market is due largely to Siri.
Price can be a contributor but was not for us, it all came down to the assistant driving the speaker.
Coming from a guy who has iMac 5k 2014, MacBook Pro 15" 2016, iPhone X, iPad Pro 10.5" (current), AirPods, Apple Watch 3rd Gen LTE, Apple TV 4k and Apple TV fourth gen. I wanted the HomePod to knock it out of the park. Unfortunately, it simply didn't. If Siri is improved, I will sell my Max and get the HomePod. Until then, my wife and I will live with the google spy in our living room.
A lot of people don't care about music quality enough to spend $350 on a speaker. I think if they managed to come up with a good $150 speaker they would sell like hotcakes.
Bought one, took it back the next day.
I need my iPad to remain PERMANENTLY connected to it but sadly AirPlay drops the connection after a few minutes of no use.
I’ll stick with my Bluetoth speakers that remain permanently connected to my iPad for months and months.
I need my iPad to remain PERMANENTLY connected to it but sadly AirPlay drops the connection after a few minutes of no use.
I’ll stick with my Bluetoth speakers that remain permanently connected to my iPad for months and months.
Personally, I don't see where the HomePod would have a place in my home. I would not want it for my living room, where I have a surround sound system. And, it's too pricey for my basement or garage.
More like people buying what they enjoy actually..people don’t buy things for the sake of it. They buy things that they enjoy.
Why not spin negative spins? The category Apple reports the HomePod a part of grew, but it’s now believe by a random person outside of apple that it’s lower than the original guess. I’ll stick with Apple on this. Every time they have been happy with initial sales, from the iPod to the IPhone X analysts have made up low numbers and they always looked stupid when Apple decided to start releasing info. They never want the competition to know how popular what they are doing different really is until it’s too late. It’s why it usually takes 2-3 years for competitors to catch up. It forces them to spread their resources instead of just taking what is working for Apple and running with it. By the time they realize it, Apple has secured a significant targeted sales volume and the copiers can’t really hurt them. Even if competitors come and get more market share, they will still grow along with the market and Control the profitable high end of the market.Uh oh, negative news. Can't. Resist. The urge. To spin. And downplay.
The “Apple” really does sound interesting. Before I dive into their product catalog and history, you wouldn’t happen to know if there are any rumor sites dedicated to the Apple products, would you? I could envision myself wasting hours there…
I believe Apple always over delivers on any speaker their offer and over price it as well. People do not see Apple as a speaker company.
Beings me back to the iPod Hi-Fi speaker days, so promising. /s
The list of things it can't do, or is not good at doing, is longer than the list of things it does do.
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I don’t think they are worried about grabbing a bigger share of the budget market. It’s simply not a consumer they are after. And Breitling sells fewer watches than Fossil.
Because Apple won't stop marketing the voice assistant feature of the speaker.
I know people with Echos. I hear about people having Echos.
I know numerous Apple fanatics. I don't know anyone with a HomePod. I don't hear about the HomePod. I saw one sitting in a busy Apple Store with a grand total of nobody caring that it existed.
Does anybody care about home speakers/theaters anymore? I used to hear about them all the time. Sometime in the last 5-15 years people stopped talking about or caring about them.
So on the speaker front, nobody cares. On the AI front, you already have Siri on your watch, which is infinitely more convenient than being in a single room of your house. Plus Siri is dumber than a doorknob, so who cares about having her at all?
What about the HomePod is supposed to be interesting or appealing?
It only makes sense for Google and Amazon because:
#1 - Their AI is more useful.
#2 - They don't already have you wearing their smartwatches (because Amazon doesn't make one, and nobody cares about Android Wear.)
#3 - They're cheap. You can impulsively buy them.
I know numerous Apple fanatics. I don't know anyone with a HomePod. I don't hear about the HomePod. I saw one sitting in a busy Apple Store with a grand total of nobody caring that it existed.
Does anybody care about home speakers/theaters anymore? I used to hear about them all the time. Sometime in the last 5-15 years people stopped talking about or caring about them.
So on the speaker front, nobody cares. On the AI front, you already have Siri on your watch, which is infinitely more convenient than being in a single room of your house. Plus Siri is dumber than a doorknob, so who cares about having her at all?
What about the HomePod is supposed to be interesting or appealing?
It only makes sense for Google and Amazon because:
#1 - Their AI is more useful.
#2 - They don't already have you wearing their smartwatches (because Amazon doesn't make one, and nobody cares about Android Wear.)
#3 - They're cheap. You can impulsively buy them.
Exactly. Not a great HomePod fan personally (too closed down), but even I can see that comparison chart is nonsense: Apple are pushing it primarily as a music delivery device (you have to go to the "Music" tab on Apple's website to find it) and its USP is sound quality + integration with Apple Music on your iDevices.
The prime competitors to the HomePod are Sonos products and other wireless mini-speakers with audiophile pretensions, not Amazon and Google's heavily subsidised cash registers/living-room spies.
I don't think it ultimately matters for Apple. It's a niche product for those in the Apple ecosystem that value great sound. It really shouldn't be compared to $50 Echo's and Google Home's. I have 2 and I love mine, easily worth the money, but I can see why it's not for everyone.
They haven't marketed it that well, IMO. It's weirdly positioned both in features and price... it doesn't feature a full-blown assistant AI like Home or Echo, and it's not a high end home audio speaker either. So Apple loses out on the whole house AI/internet shopping crowd, and they lose out on the home audio/theater crowd.
The market segment for this product seems a bit too limited to me.
The market segment for this product seems a bit too limited to me.
Same reason you're only mentioning the $50 Echo in your comment. Narrative. 'Cept I'd say they're a little less disingenuous in their comparison. At least they're comparing the sales of the entire smart speaker market. Unlike you, who self selected the most disparately priced Echo sku to compare vs the HomePod.
It's a general comparison of the entire market. Not a subset breakdown. There's a difference, of which, I am sure you are aware.
