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HomePod 'Sold Out' on Apple's Online Store [Updated]
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They are selling millions every quarter. As usual Apple knows what it wants to do and does it well. They could make a cheap loss leader speaker like Amazon, but as with smart phones, Apple doesn't set out to be number one in sales, they just want to produce a quality product that makes a nice profit. Thus, while Amazon loses money on each one they sell, HomePod blows it away on quality and brings in billions to Apple. #Winning
They’re currently on sale in the UK at several retailers, for £199
Argos, AO, and as of this morning John Lewis too.
Argos, AO, and as of this morning John Lewis too.
Won't be missed. Hope something better comes along.
Why it’s awesome. Sounds incredible.
Given everyone is stuck inside. It’s the perfect time to discount an expensive item that has a large profit margin.
homepod mini coming next month...my question will be wonder how good he will be and what differences Siri will have.
Just hope they price it correctly. I would be temoted to add one for kitchen and one for bedroom if the price is reasonable.
Just hope they price it correctly. I would be temoted to add one for kitchen and one for bedroom if the price is reasonable.
This is the problem with Siri. Working OK, is not working well. We went with Alexa for our smart home stuff as it just works. The only thing it sometimes struggles with is our 6 month old daughters name, if we ask the temperature in her bedroom. Other than that, we have no complaints, I would like geofencing, hopefully that'll come.
It still baffles me that the HomePod isn’t sold everywhere and doesn’t support most Siri languages. I have Dutch Siri on my iPhone, iPad, Watch and MacBook, but the HomePod doesn’t support my language and therefore isn’t officially sold in my country. And that’s the case for most European countries.
If Apple doesn’t take the HomePod seriously, their customers wont either. Also, still no Spotify support is a dealbreaker for many. If it only works over AirPlay you might as well just buy a really good AirPlay speaker or receiver.
If Apple doesn’t take the HomePod seriously, their customers wont either. Also, still no Spotify support is a dealbreaker for many. If it only works over AirPlay you might as well just buy a really good AirPlay speaker or receiver.
Awesomeness is highly subjective when it comes to this particular SKU. I value audio quality but I also value audio input versatility which made it an instant no-go.
Being an "expensive item with a large profit margin" serves Apple, not the consumer.
What specifically was your problem? Didn't like the sound?
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All UK retailers do their hardest to make as many online sales as they can, since their stores are closed.
The hampered audio sources/ input options. I also mentioned it above.
The sound itself is OK but the rest is laughably locked down. Whenever I have a guest over (family, friends) I don't want them to go through some arcane workaround just so they can stream their music. A lot of them are using Android phones or want to use their computers. And Siri is still dumb as a brick. Until Apple sorts these basics, I'll stick to my trusty Zeppelin wireless for home use.
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I don't even play music through the TV. There is nothing spectacularly _wrong_ with the sound, it's just _lacking_.
Well, they did change the price tag down to $299. That's atypical of Apple, and was probably a move to slightly boost sales.
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"I'm gonna frequent a news site that literally has 'Mac' in its name and then complain when there's too many, like, stories focused on Apple. Like, what's up with that??"
Well it seems that is changing with IOS 14 or new mini....
I think if apple prices a HomePod mini at say 150 far more would be tempted
did u also notice that Siri‘s recognition got worse over time? Sometimes we have to yell at the HomePod to activate
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Almost the whole current board of Apple is people with financial backgrounds and no visionaries
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I don’t think they can go wrong with a HomePod mini. Maybe if it was about £150 that would be reasonable.
I would get one for my dining room and kitchen and replace the echos I have in there.
Yeah for £150 I would get a few...would still use the google home as a bedroom clock though
The rumours have been there for quite some time, let’s hope it will finally happen. The moment I can really replace Google Home, I will jump right in.
The thing is, even at 150 it will be too expensive for most. I just bought a Google Home for 49 (to replace the Home Mini which I got for 29) and the sound quality is pretty good. For a HomePod Mini to be worth 150 it needs to be really good, support more languages and support 3rd party music apps. Let’s wait and see.
It would be nice to see Apple open up Bluetooth (rather than just for initial set up) in terms of HomePod. I no longer have mine but when I was at work sometimes it would have been nice to be able to plug it in and hit play on my iPhone.
We don't have official numbers, but… "HomePod shipments actually increased year-over-year during Q4 2019, going from 1.6 million units to 2.6 million units"
Strategy Analytics: HomePod sales grew in 2019, but Amazon and Google still lead - 9to5Mac
Strategy Analytics is out with a new report today covering the smart speaker industry during 2019. According to the data,...
9to5mac.com
If true, that's 770M in revenue just that quarter, so probably above $1B for the year (it's the holiday quarter, though, so it will have more sales compared to the other quarters; you can't just quadruple the number).
The HomePod is Apples most underrated product they’ve manufactured in the last five years. Seriously, The HomePod has serious potential for growth, I just think the ‘price point’ for the average consumer is probably out of reach, but then again, the HomePod may not be for everyone given its very sound orientated v.s. Being just a ‘smart speaker.’