The company plans to launch a new inexpensive HomePod model
Two years ago, Apple released the HomePod , with customer deliveries and in-store availability starting February 9, 2018 in the U.S., Australia and the UK.
At launch, the HomePod was priced at $ 349 , but the iPhone maker reduced its price to $ 299 in April 2019. Apple has never declared HomePod sales, grouping the speaker in the category instead ” Wearables, Home and Accessories ” which set a quarterly record with $ 10 billion in revenue in the last three months of 2019.
However, much of Apple’s wearable device growth has been attributed to Apple Watch and AirPods . Many estimates place HomePod’s worldwide market share at around 5% .
Price is the biggest obstacle for the HomePod. The two biggest competitors, Amazon Echo and Google Home, have cheap models that are priced at only $ 49 or less, while only one HomePod model is available for $ 299. This could change in the near future, however, since last year Bloomberg reported that a lower-cost, low-tweeter HomePod could be launched this year.
Apple has marketed HomePod as a premium speaker with built-in Siri. Early reviews agreed that the sound quality is excellent, but found Siri lackluster.
In recent years, Apple has consistently made the HomePod more useful by adding features such as Handoff support, multi-user voice detection, ambient sounds and multi-room audio. Beyond a potential low-cost model, however, it remains to be seen when Apple releases a second generation HomePod.
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