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HomePod Struggling to Gain Market Share Alongside Cheaper Amazon Echo and Google Home Speakers
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you can get a really good sounding pair of speakers for $700
these are not them
these are not them
I'm quite happy with the stereo pair that I have. Are they worth $349 each? No, not to me. But at the $249 price that I got them for back in December, I'm definitely satisfied with them.
I got one for x-mas and returned it.
Sure it has great sound, but no bluetooth, no iphone app or controls so always have to sound like a dork and say 'hey siri' every time I want it to do something, and next to impossible to use other (non Apple Music) streaming services with it.
Also, every time I wanted to move it to another room, I had to set it up again. I called Apple support and the guy said 'it's not designed to be a portable speaker, it's meant to stay in the same spot all the time'. WTF?!? To me, the biggest advantage of a small, good sounding speaker is that it's portable and can take that music out of the porch, to dining room, to the bed room.
Apple products used to be about flexability, about allowing the user to configure things to their liking. The Home Pod is all about forcing you to do it only one way: Apple's way.
P.S. Why doesn't apple make an app for the iphone that allows you to control the home pod? (music source, volume, etc) But no, that would be the 'old' Apple way ... in other words offering additional convenience and flexibility.
Sure it has great sound, but no bluetooth, no iphone app or controls so always have to sound like a dork and say 'hey siri' every time I want it to do something, and next to impossible to use other (non Apple Music) streaming services with it.
Also, every time I wanted to move it to another room, I had to set it up again. I called Apple support and the guy said 'it's not designed to be a portable speaker, it's meant to stay in the same spot all the time'. WTF?!? To me, the biggest advantage of a small, good sounding speaker is that it's portable and can take that music out of the porch, to dining room, to the bed room.
Apple products used to be about flexability, about allowing the user to configure things to their liking. The Home Pod is all about forcing you to do it only one way: Apple's way.
P.S. Why doesn't apple make an app for the iphone that allows you to control the home pod? (music source, volume, etc) But no, that would be the 'old' Apple way ... in other words offering additional convenience and flexibility.
I don't think many people care two craps about quality audio experience with music. You have people who are perfectly complacent with music played from their smartphones. But, boy, after more than a decade of listening to music through Apple's earbuds, I had no idea what these songs actually sounded like until I used a HomePod.
I think there’s a place for both. Echoes for the more budget conscious, while the HomePod is there for consumers willing to pay a premium for the best Apple experience.
It’s the same case for making iTunes and airplay available on android TVs. Make your (paid) services available on as many different devices as possible, while positioning your own high end hardware as offering the best possible experience.
Critics forget that 6% is still a very respectable number of units sold, and the HomePod has only been in the market for over a year. Give it another two or three years, and I believe they will be singing a completely different tune.
It’s the same case for making iTunes and airplay available on android TVs. Make your (paid) services available on as many different devices as possible, while positioning your own high end hardware as offering the best possible experience.
Critics forget that 6% is still a very respectable number of units sold, and the HomePod has only been in the market for over a year. Give it another two or three years, and I believe they will be singing a completely different tune.
Exactly: As long as the music quality is "good enough" for the price, most people don't care about better quality for more money. Its about value for money and what people are willing to spend.
This is basically me. HomePods are awesome speakers. But i have quite a few of Amazon echoes throughout the house. And i can find more stuff that are Alexa enabled rather than Siri enabled.
That depends what you're comparing for. if you're talking about speaker quality itself, Sure, than compare it to other $350 speakers.
If you're talking about it from a home integration platform? the HomePod falls flat on it's face.
The problem with taking the stance that it should only be compared to high end speakers, is that the high end speaker market is vastly mature and has existed for decades. Those players have already moved into "connected" speakers. Those players also have connected speakers that at those price points of the homepod are offering compelling sound and in many cases basic integrations like bluetooth, and some even with Alexa / chromecast support to do the same things as the HomePod.
The problem is, In comparison to this market the HomePod is also lacking. No bluetooth prevents you from using anything but an Apple device with it. No support for any other 3rd party software, meaning no spotify etc, which the other high end speakers are supporting. Siri integration ONLY with Apple content.
the simple comparison you are trying to make does nothing but handwave the issue with this product away. it's trying to saddle the gap between the existing great quality speakers, and low end home automation. And while it does these both fairly well from an Apple centric standpoint, outside of the people who are "All In" in the Apple ecosystem, the device is mostly useless paperweight.[/QUOTE]
I would disagree that the sound is “amazing.” My Beoplay sounds better.
Looks like Apple is getting some pushback from consumers with their pricing. Not trying to debate value, but many folks have difficulty spending this kind of money. Fantastic design or not. Win some lose some. Apple is winning the car stereo with Carplay but will lose the home. Home automation has advancements coming regularly and at a fast pace. Apple has much difficulty updating items like this at a reasonable pace.
I really don’t think it sounded great tbh. I had it preordered and was very excited for it, but ended up returning it shortly. It doesn’t get loud enough, and frankly sounds about the same as any other small speaker. Really, really not worth the money.
Also, it’s a fantasy to believe that they’ll come out with a $100 speaker when they sell lightning cables for $30
Also, it’s a fantasy to believe that they’ll come out with a $100 speaker when they sell lightning cables for $30
How can this be, it is sold at cost or a loss. Why does the market want Siri built into a non Bluetooth, yet AirPlay 2 speaker
For a dollar or more a day, you can help Apples Executive Team know they priced it right by purchasing one today. Remember it is only a dollar a day, we do not want reality to take hold of them
It’s vastly overpriced for a speaker. Too bad Siri isn’t smart enough to make it a smart speaker. And airplay is horribly flaky too.
But to be fair the whole idea of an always on smart speaker is creepy and contradicts apples commitment to privacy.
Still if they are going to have one they need to invest some serious work into Siri. Otherwise it’s just an overpriced Bluetooth speaker.
Oh wait. No Bluetooth.
But to be fair the whole idea of an always on smart speaker is creepy and contradicts apples commitment to privacy.
Still if they are going to have one they need to invest some serious work into Siri. Otherwise it’s just an overpriced Bluetooth speaker.
Oh wait. No Bluetooth.
Completely pointless product especially as it doesn't do anything of value the cheaper competition can't do.
And Siri is still atrocious.
And Siri is still atrocious.
So here's the problem...
Having used both Siri and Alexa it's obvious that Alexa is an order of magnitude more capable and intelligent than Siri.
But something I like about Apple, which goes some of the way to justify their high prices, is that they're a traditional consumer electronics company that makes most of its money selling hardware.
Google and Amazon can entice me with all sorts of impressive and "free" goodies but I know it's all a pretext for data collection they can use to drive sophisticated advertising algorithms.
Just like how DuckDuckGo will never be able to compete with Google Search, Siri will never adequately rival Alexa.
We are giving advertisers too much influence over our lives for the sake of convenience folks.
Having used both Siri and Alexa it's obvious that Alexa is an order of magnitude more capable and intelligent than Siri.
But something I like about Apple, which goes some of the way to justify their high prices, is that they're a traditional consumer electronics company that makes most of its money selling hardware.
Google and Amazon can entice me with all sorts of impressive and "free" goodies but I know it's all a pretext for data collection they can use to drive sophisticated advertising algorithms.
Just like how DuckDuckGo will never be able to compete with Google Search, Siri will never adequately rival Alexa.
We are giving advertisers too much influence over our lives for the sake of convenience folks.
I really want a HomeKit device as I hate using my Alexa. Its slow and the app sucks. If there was a 100$ clock version like the spot with homekit I would buy this in a heartbeat. All my stuff is homekit now and I don't need to use any Alexa device anymore. Everything is instant with homekit using my phone with all the Hue bulbs/ikea bulbs/ihome switches.
There is a place for both, but the Echo isn't relegated to the budget conscious. Both the Echo and Home line of speakers have the one advantage that HomePod can't overcome. They both i/o allowing them to be integrated into low, medium, and high quality audio systems alike. Regardless of it's price, the HomePod is hobbled in the broader market by it's lack of i/o. I know Apple's goal is ecosystem buy-in, but no i/o was a big mistake imo.
Any room where a person currently has speakers (high quality or low) is easily augmented by a small dot or mini.
Nah ur math says u r over qualified for that. They r looking for someone who are stupid enuf to fit in easily
$349 HomePod should not be compared to $129 Google Home and $69 Amazon Echo. These are obviously different market segments.
Sonos speakers are also so much better than HomePod, but are never talked about here...
$149 Play:1 > HomePod
$199 One > HomePod
$499 Play:5 >>>>>>> HomePod
Any of the Sonos options have superior sound quality and integration options than Apple's. Sorry, Tim.
Sonos speakers are also so much better than HomePod, but are never talked about here...
$149 Play:1 > HomePod
$199 One > HomePod
$499 Play:5 >>>>>>> HomePod
Any of the Sonos options have superior sound quality and integration options than Apple's. Sorry, Tim.
I don’t think anyone should be surprised by this. Even as someone who is very invested in the Apple ecosystem, I still chose Amazon over the HomePod. Why pay $300 for a smart speaker when that same amount of money can get me an Echo plus (new generation actually has sound quality pretty close to the HomePod) and a few Echo dots and I’d probably still have some money left over?
The price was too high and Apple came too late. Sometimes, the Apple tax just isn’t justifiable....
The price was too high and Apple came too late. Sometimes, the Apple tax just isn’t justifiable....
looked at the Sonos One. . . ended up buying a HomePod during the BestBuy Black Friday sale for $250. Like it so far and sounds much better than an Alexa. Also since we tend to listen to music off of our computers/phones rather than streaming, it works really well with AirPlay.