“Earlier this month, HomePod pre-orders began shipping, and as of February 9, excited new owners began receiving their speakers,” Ben Arnold writes for The NPD Group Blog. “HomePod has been one of 2018’s most anticipated products in what has proven to be one of the industry’s most intriguing product categories, and early demand for the speaker did not disappoint. In fact, in the U.S., day one pre-orders of HomePod were higher than all other smart speaker first day pre-orders, except Amazon’s Echo Dot, according to NPD’s Checkout service. With Siri, Apple Music, and HomeKit, Apple has all the necessary integrations to be a success in the smart speaker market.”
“HomePod also represents Apple’s entry into the premium audio hardware market. Apple has made it a point to emphasize the audio fidelity of HomePod, in addition to its smart capabilities; and while the device will surely compete with other premium voice-activated speakers, like Sonos’ One, and Google Home Max, it will also jostle for share with audio heritage brands like Bose, Harman Kardon, and Sony,” Arnold writes. “Apple’s success in audio was on display throughout much of 2017 as AirPods became the top-selling headphone product by year’s end (based on dollars and units2). Further, if taken together, Beats and Apple were the top-selling headphone brand of 2017, accounting for 44 percent of all dollar sales (not just wireless).”
“Much of AirPods’ success has hinged on the device’s ability to unite different parts of Apple’s ecosystem (in particular Siri and iOS),” Arnold writes. “While HomePod will fill a similar role in Apple households, the new focus on sound quality means Apple is not merely looking to impact smart speakers, but has its sights set on a larger disruption in connected audio.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Comparing Apple’s HomePod to Amazon’s Echo Dot is like comparing a BMW M5 to a Chevy Spark.
SEE ALSO:
Apple HomePod hits 3 percent in U.S. market share – February 22, 2018
Here are the Siri commands you’ll use most with your HomePod – February 21, 2018
How to control your home with the HomePod – February 20, 2018
Jean-Louis Gassée: The trouble with Apple HomePod reviews – February 20, 2018
Steve Crandall: Apple’s HomePod is the next big step in home audio – February 13, 2018
Apple HomePod: The audiophile perspective plus 8 1/2 hours of measurements; HomePod is 100% an audiophile-grade speaker – February 12, 2018
Apple’s HomePod is actually a steal at $349 – January 26, 2018
Digital Trends previews Apple’s HomePod: Impressive sound coupled with strong privacy – January 26, 2018
Hands on with Apple’s HomePod: Attractive, ultra-high-quality speaker, an excellent Siri ambassador – January 26, 2018
Apple’s HomePod, the iPod for your home – January 25, 2018
One hour with Apple’s new HomePod smart speaker – January 25, 2018
Apple’s iOS 11.3 beta delivers AirPlay 2 with multi-room playback – January 25, 2018
How Apple is positioning the HomePod and why – January 24, 2018
How I got talked into buying an Apple HomePod despite my reservations – January 24, 2018
Tim Cook says audio quality puts HomePod ahead of ‘squeaky-sounding’ competition – January 24, 2018
Apple’s HomePod arrives February 9th, available to order this Friday, January 26th – January 23, 2018
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Apple reveals HomePod smart home music speaker – June 5, 2017
I LOVE Homepod even more than expected. With Apple Music subscribtion you just requ st Siri to play any song you can think of, whether you have downloaded it previously or not. The fidelity is on a par with my old Bose system without having to search for any music. It also plays NPR radio.
Same here. Siri on HomePod far surpasses Siri on any other device. My wife loves the HomePod too. The simple ability for her to fire up HomePod music rather than wrestle with our home theater is a huge plus. HomePod can’t match my surround sound system, but that audio is really excellent in such a small package. Thanks for the tip on NPR radio, that’s great to know.
While I see Apple’s reasoning for leaving out a physical audio-in port, not including one IMO reduces the future proofing of the HomePod as a speaker when competing with other high-end speakers.
For now. Very soon all high end speakers of this type won’t have input. Why? Because Apple.
That would be a very sad day indeed.
I can’t say I see the reasoning, and it’s a bad omen for future products.
The reasoning I see is that it follows Apple’s move to remove and reduce the number of ports to streamline the product and eliminate entry points for water and dust. It also helps to lock users in to using primarily, if not exclusively, Apple products.
Ah, yes I suppose if the reasoning is evil (lock customers out of using global-standard other tech with apple’s kit), then I suppose I do see it.
Water & dust are not a legitimate reason for excluding the stereo line-in.
It worked for the iPhone. I wouldn’t be surprised if port removal eventually extended to all other Apple devices ending at the Mac.
Dust/lint clog is a legit concern for a phone that goes into and out of pockets, purses, bags all day. Not for a big heavy speaker.
Totally agree. At this point port removal is more a style and cost reduction issue (as well as possible lock-in) for Apple.
Right on-Apple leads, others follow.
Good, now can everyone please just shut up about HomePod being too late, too expensive, too restrictive, too not like the other stuff that’s already on the market?
Apple always enters markets in its own time in its own way and almost invariably owns the whole thing or at the very least, the most valuable part of it.
My UPS driver informed me he’d been dropping off the same box all day on Nov. 9
Yes, but the trajectory of this device is very similar to iPad, and since the customer base is now exponentially larger than the old days, this thing is going to take a large portion of this nascent market very quickly. The audio is truly astounding, and although Siri can’t answer random silly questions (which apparently is the definition of smart for some reason), she does work very well on HomePod and can always hear you even if the volume is all the way up. It’s pretty remarkable. This is one of those products, like the iPhone & iPad before it that once you use it you won’t go to another brand because it is that much better. I’ve said previously that I’ve tried all of the smart speakers, and found them all to have real problems with audio performance, Bluetooth connectivity, understanding my voice, and randomly rebooting while somehow taking down my WiFi network in the case of the google home (which I didn’t understand why such a huge bug would’ve been allowed to ship, also why it was deliberately ignored by certai influencer types & reviewers). The HomePod will grow over time in capability with software development, but the audio is already damned near perfect, and that’s a huge advantage.
Been to two different Apple Stores- which were quite busy- since the thing went on sale and in both there was not one customer looking at them.
Promenade at Chenal and Saddle Creek, to be exact.
Anecdotal comment. It may have been lunchtime at that moment or something.
MacDailyNews Take: Comparing Apple’s HomePod to Amazon’s Echo Dot is like comparing a BMW M5 to a Chevy Spark, nuff said…