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Apple's expensive HomePod speaker accounted for just six percent of the U.S. smart speaker installed base through the fourth quarter of 2018, according to research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
![homepod-on-shelf-800x579.jpg]()
CIRP estimates that the U.S. installed base of smart speakers reached 66 million units last quarter, suggesting that HomePod sales in the country have totaled around 3.96 million units since the speaker became available to order in January 2018. Apple does not disclose exact HomePod sales figures.
By comparison, the Amazon Echo and Google Home accounted for a commanding 70 percent and 24 percent of the installed base respectively as of last quarter, with both products proving to be popular holiday gifts.
![cirp-homepod-q4-2018.jpg]()
At $349, the HomePod is significantly more expensive than the Amazon Echo and Google Home. The small, entry-level Amazon Echo Dot and Google Home Mini models in particular were available for as low as $25 during the holiday season, while the HomePod is only available in one size.
"Amazon and Google both have broad model lineups, ranging from basic to high-end, with even more variants from Amazon. Apple of course has only its premium-priced HomePod, and likely won't gain significant share until it offers an entry-level product closer to Echo Dot and Home mini," said CIRP co-founder Josh Lowitz.
To improve sales, many resellers offered the HomePod for $249 during the holiday season. Even now, the speaker is available for $279.99 at Best Buy, a $70 discount compared to its price on Apple.com.
In fairness, the HomePod also launched two to three years after many of its competitors, and sales remain limited to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, China, and Hong Kong. But without a steeper price cut, the speaker faces an uphill battle.
In April 2018, well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was "mulling" a "low-cost version" of the HomePod, potentially due to shipments of the current version being "far below market expectations." A report out of China said the lower-cost HomePod could be priced between $150 and $200 in the United States.
It's unclear if Apple would be willing to release a HomePod speaker with inferior sound quality versus the current model. Last year, a Chinese report said the lower-priced HomePod could actually be a Siri-enabled Beats speaker.
CIRP bases its findings on its survey of 500 U.S. owners of the HomePod, Amazon Echo, and Google Home, surveyed from January 1-11, 2019, who owned one of those speakers as of December 31, 2018.
Article Link: HomePod Struggling to Gain Market Share Alongside Cheaper Amazon Echo and Google Home Speakers
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HomePod Struggling to Gain Market Share Alongside Cheaper Amazon Echo and Google Home Speakers
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Not surprising that sales are what they are.
However, I personally think the HomePod was marketed wrong, given the price and its sound performance.
Compared to anything Amazon makes, as for speakers, the HomePod is MILES ahead in sound. For me (and a few others I''m sure), the point of a speaker in my home is to recreate the music in the best possible way. Digital assistants are cool, but my music tastes and playlist are entirely too curated to just have Alexa or Google "play me the Top 40 hits".
Sonos can arguably sound better if you pair their impressive Subwoofer with their speakers, but we are talking a $700 add on, so if $350 has people up in arms, I highly doubt a device strictly for low-end frequencies is on anybodies "must buy" list who is casually listening to music or happy with whatever sound emits from an Echo.
As whole, the HomePod for me rest strictly on its sound reproduction. Smart speaker abilities are lacking and I can argue that lack of using at least Spotify is hurting them more than helping. I personally use Apple Music, but also subscribe to Spotify, so I use both. If your goal is some of the best sound quality within the price range, its hard to argue.
In addition, the used market for HomePod's is filled with amazing deals for under $200. That's where I shopped for mine.
However, I personally think the HomePod was marketed wrong, given the price and its sound performance.
Compared to anything Amazon makes, as for speakers, the HomePod is MILES ahead in sound. For me (and a few others I''m sure), the point of a speaker in my home is to recreate the music in the best possible way. Digital assistants are cool, but my music tastes and playlist are entirely too curated to just have Alexa or Google "play me the Top 40 hits".
Sonos can arguably sound better if you pair their impressive Subwoofer with their speakers, but we are talking a $700 add on, so if $350 has people up in arms, I highly doubt a device strictly for low-end frequencies is on anybodies "must buy" list who is casually listening to music or happy with whatever sound emits from an Echo.
As whole, the HomePod for me rest strictly on its sound reproduction. Smart speaker abilities are lacking and I can argue that lack of using at least Spotify is hurting them more than helping. I personally use Apple Music, but also subscribe to Spotify, so I use both. If your goal is some of the best sound quality within the price range, its hard to argue.
In addition, the used market for HomePod's is filled with amazing deals for under $200. That's where I shopped for mine.
If you mean Apple Music subscription, I cannot understand why someone with an Android device would subscribe to Apple Music. It is has a substandard UI and user experience compared to Spotify on an Android device.
I bought one early and was instantly impressed. HomePod has what we used to call "presence". It is a deep, low frequency bass that most subwoofers cannot achieve. Back when selling high end audio as a college student it took a 12 or 15" woofer which one could see visibly moving an inch or more to create that "felt" bass. Somehow, Apple can do that in something I can put in my desk drawer, and without the 100 pounds of support electronics. Yes, it is spendy and Apple needs to create a smaller, cheaper version more in line with the others mentioned in this thread, but even at $350 this is a snip compared to what we used to need to get this kind of sound. Those Cerwin-Vega or JBL speakers were enormous and about $650 each in 1981. When Target had HomePod on sale for $100 off during the holidays (Thanks, MacRumors, for that tip, btw) I bought two more. For less than one 1981 JBL speaker adjusted for inflation to 2019. I have synced house-filling sound. While I wish Siri could do more, I am always seeing improvements. I asked her for the Chivas de Guadalajara game schedule and she rattled it off for me. Then I asked for the Cimarrones schedule and she had it. What I'd like to see is more integration with apps on Macs and devices online to lock my car, check my email, find friends, etc. I think that will be coming and I'd rather see Apple get it right than run out some half-baked hot mess like other companies like to do.
The entire reason to choose Siri over Alexa is differential privacy, and it's also why Siri lags behind Alexa. It's a trade off.
I personally wouldn't run an Alexa device in my house. Actually, my thermostat has the capability, but I disabled it and covered the mic.
Um, no. It doesn't connect with Pandora or other music services. So unless you are enslaved to Apple Music and iCloud, the HomePod is worthless.
Dumb headline and comparison. Apples to oranges. Better comparison would be to Sonos.
The $50 Amazon and Google speakers are for one thing only- talking and listening to Alexa and Google. They aren't for music.
The $50 Amazon and Google speakers are for one thing only- talking and listening to Alexa and Google. They aren't for music.
It is a great speaker. Although limited by connection options.
The HomePod was on sale at Best Buy yesterday, $70 off (and still is on sale today), so I picked up a couple. They look great, feel like quality speakers, were easy to set up and pair as a stereo unit, and most important of all sound great.
I don’t know why he subscribes to it too. I’ve offered to upgrade my YouTube premium to a family subscription so that he can use google play music on his phone but he keeps going on about his playlists.
You don't need to collect it, it's enough if you use it for improvement on the fly, even locally. Furthermore you can do anonymous data collection and model training. More data is always better than less data.
What did they think when they designed a $350 assistant/speaker. People buy these for the intelligence of the AI (google assistant or Alexa), Siri is not on par with either of those. I'd imagine if apple tried to make a google home hub with a screen they'd think pricing it at $599 would be a wise choice.
Most people only have one music streaming service be that Apple Music or Spotify or whatever. I don’t think it’s a big deal to have chosen Apple.
The point is Apple by design, wants to choke off your choice. Rather than have it be an open and flexible device (the kind of devices apple used to make) now they’re forcing you to do it ‘their’ way.
To me, the homepod represents everything thats wrong with Apple these days.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ma...peakers/6-improvements-homepod-needs.amp.html
The main issues I have with it on Android app are
No gapless playback. Try listening to prog albums and you will understand
When in landscape, the display remains stuck in portrait at 90 degrees to your viewpoint. Using in a gym on xtrainer etc, landscape orientation is safer. Especially with a headphone lead.
Spotify allows tracks to be changed by swiping right or left over the display. On a xtrainer it is not easy to tap the left or right control "buttons"
Seems to need at least one extra "button" press to get back to library etc.
Curated music in "For you" play lists is excellent on Spotify. If I have played an Anekdoten track/album, I will be led to other Swedish heavy prog bands using mellotron etc. I have discovered several new bands with Spotify. Doesn't happen with Apple Music .
Maybe this isn't the case with iOS devices, or I have a knobbled version with my free 6 month EE subscription, but then WHY?
I’m not surprised at all (or upset) that it’s failing.
Apple decided to remove essential bluetooth support from this speaker and make it Apple Music only accessory.
Most users want a speaker that they can pair with all their apps and sources not just with Apple Music.
It’s a stupid and arrogant decision that makes zero sense.
Imagine if Airpods could only pair with Apple Music and not useable with Youtube,Spotify,etc
why Airpods can connect to every bluetooth device and any App but Homepod is only restricted to Apple Music? whats the difference?
Apple decided to remove essential bluetooth support from this speaker and make it Apple Music only accessory.
Most users want a speaker that they can pair with all their apps and sources not just with Apple Music.
It’s a stupid and arrogant decision that makes zero sense.
Imagine if Airpods could only pair with Apple Music and not useable with Youtube,Spotify,etc
why Airpods can connect to every bluetooth device and any App but Homepod is only restricted to Apple Music? whats the difference?
I asked the same question on androidpolice once.
https://www.androidpolice.com/2017/04/04/apple-music-android-updated-v2-0-redesigned-user-interface/
Spotify isn’t perfect, and there are countries like India where Spotify and google play music isn’t available. A few actually prefer the UI as well. In short, even on an android device, the experience isn’t necessarily worse than Spotify, making them comparable choices actually.
I really like the sound of my Homepod. I bought it on sale for $250...I won't be paying more than that if I get a 2nd. I have a nice sounding home theatre but for some things the Homepod is just more convenient (ex: my 5 yo kid can operate it easily). Being locked into Apple Music isn't a big deal for me; it has a great music selection and native support on all my Apple stuff. Actually I tried Spotify for 3 months but I didn't like it compared to Apple Music. If Apple jacks up the price on their service maybe I'll think twice I guess but right now they're all about the same price so I prefer the Apple experience.
I listed some of the issues with Apple Music on Android on a later post.
Seriously, no gapless play back is ridiculous.
And "For You" playlists are seriously lacking compared to Spotify.
Edit : I am on 2.7.0 (270)
I find the comments regarding Siri being stupid to be quite tiresome. Siri, for me, works far better than Alexa and Google Home. I own both an Alexa device and Google Home device, and have found them to be dumber than a box of rocks. It has not known a number of items that Siri knows straight away.
For those complaining about Siri, what version of iOS are you using? Some version from the early 2000s? Siri is far better than it used to be, and is improving rapidly.
Regardless, Siri is always with me when I have my Apple Watch and iPhone, and Alexa is not. And Apple does a far better job of keeping my queries private.
For those complaining about Siri, what version of iOS are you using? Some version from the early 2000s? Siri is far better than it used to be, and is improving rapidly.
Regardless, Siri is always with me when I have my Apple Watch and iPhone, and Alexa is not. And Apple does a far better job of keeping my queries private.
I didn’t realize you were assessing music quality by a speaker’s ability to drown out a party. Going forward, I’ll address my comments to the adults. Sorry.