Purchased a HomePod a few days ago and the unit they sent me was manufactured in 2018 (the year is printed next to Apple’s address on the box’s bottom side). Aren’t there any HomePod units manufactured in 2019 or 2020? It’s a bit frustrating to give away so much money for something that’s been +2 years in a box.
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HomePod Purchased HomePod manufactured in 2018
- Thread starter rmoliv
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Did you buy directly from Apple, third party, or retail? HomePods are being manufactured in 2020. Sounds like you got stock from somewhere that had been sitting on the shelf for a long time. Should be nothing wrong with it. The OS can still be updated and there is no battery to wear out.
Bought it from a third-party (reseller) - a department store in Spain. Wondering whether the demand for the HomePod has been so low that there’s still plenty of stock from 2018 to get rid of. Yes, it’s working fine and the OS updated to 14.2.
The demand for the HomePod at that particular store may have been very low, or, the store has too much stock on hand. I am guessing the former is more likely the explanation.
Units that have come directly from Apple are of the same build time frame because the product was made and such large quantities and has not sold any where close to expectations. You will find this to be the case anywhere
Even brand new ones from Best Buy (bought in May on this year) have a date on 2017 and early 2018. I'm curious to know if the still manufacture the original HomePod or just are sitting on shipping containers filled with pallets of pallets on HomePods. They didn't sell anywhere near to what they hoped to sell probably due to the high price and limited compatibility (only recently did they allow other streaming music services to be set as the default)
From a department store I can easily see how that can happen. There will be a shelf in the warehouse that they keep stock of the homepod. They will reorder stock when it gets low. when it replenishes they put the new stock in front, when they restock the store they will pull the first ( newest units) then rinse and repeat. Potentially the oldest unit at the back of the shelf is never put on display or sold to the customer until the store actually runs down it’s warehouse supply completely.
If you ever watch a good supermarket restock a food self in store, you will notice that they always take the older stock remaining off the shelf first, before they replenish the stock, then put the older stock back to ensure the customer selects that first before it hits the sell by date. In theory the department store should do the same, but that is extra work for the warehouse staff...
If you ever watch a good supermarket restock a food self in store, you will notice that they always take the older stock remaining off the shelf first, before they replenish the stock, then put the older stock back to ensure the customer selects that first before it hits the sell by date. In theory the department store should do the same, but that is extra work for the warehouse staff...
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Unless there was some difference, improvements or changes of some kind in the product, that have been made since the HomePod was first introduced, I don't see why it would make a difference. It's not as if there is a shelf life to these speakers! I check manufacture dates for products I receive too, I might feel the same way initially if I purchased a HomePod today, but unless there was actually a difference between one manufactured on one date vs another, I would be fine with it.