Survey finds 1/3 of people interested in Apple's HomePod, still more likely to buy Amazon ...

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Roughly a third of people in the U.S. are interested in Apple's Siri-based HomePod, though they're more likely to buy an Amazon Echo in practice, survey results suggested on Wednesday.




Of 2,200 polled adults, 33 percent said they were interested in the HomePod, according to Morning Consult. That number dipped to 30 percent after people were shown a comparison with other smartspeakers, such as the Echo and Google Home.

Among people who already owned Apple products, pre-comparison interest was 45 percent, slipping to 40 percent afterward.

Within the overall survey group 17 percent said they were mostly like to buy an Echo, and 11 percent the cheaper Echo Dot. Only 9 percent said they would go for a HomePod, below the Google Home's 11 percent.

The HomePod did fare better among existing Apple owners at 17 percent, but still ranked below the Echo's 18 percent.

Price appears to be the main concern among shoppers, since 57 percent picked it as "very important" in a smartspeaker. The HomePod will cost $349 when it launches in December -- by contrast, an Echo is currently $139.99, and an Echo Dot only $39.99, though the latter is meant to be hooked up to an external speaker.

51 percent of people said speaker quality was important, which may help Apple. The company has banked on that element in both marketing and design -- the HomePod sports a woofer, seven tweeters, and technologies such as beamforming and automatic balancing with room acoustics.

A number of questions remain about the HomePod, such as how well it will work with third-party streaming services. So far it only appears to support Apple Music -- which is missing from the Echo and Google Home, but the latter devices offer a choice of services such as Spotify, Pandora, and TuneIn.
damians
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 81
    Betting we'll see pro and mini versions eventually to address different segments of the market. 
  • Reply 2 of 81
    jmey267jmey267 Posts: 57member
    "40% among people that already own apple products", That is huge! adds yet another revenue stream to their lineup. 
    patchythepirateradarthekat
  • Reply 3 of 81
    The HomePod will be available around December, just in time for the holidays. That's a fairly long way off and yet they're already giving these cockamamie sales predictions. Apple will be doing Siri development up until that time so who knows what the full capabilities of the HomePod will be when it goes on sale. If people want to buy an Echo, then more power to them. I hear they sound like crap for playing back music, but maybe most people only care about Alexa's smarts instead of the sound quality. That's just fine. I'd rather have high quality speakers along with a smart assistant but that's just my choice.

    More people are likely to buy Toyotas rather than Porsches, but I'd rather own the Porsche if I can afford one. I don't see why there's a need for comparison. Two companies with different approaches to a product is just fine. I'm willing to bet Apple makes profits from HomePods rather than Amazon's break-even from selling the Echo. The only thing that if I had a HomePod, I'd prefer it to work with either Pandora or Spotify.  I suppose Apple wants consumers to only use AppleMusic but that seems rather limiting.  Apple can do whatever it likes and let the consumer decide whether it's worth the cost.  No one is putting a gun to a consumer's head to buy Apple products.
    edited June 2017 stevenozpatchythepiratehzcradarthekat[Deleted User]longpath
  • Reply 4 of 81
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Betting we'll see pro and mini versions eventually to address different segments of the market. 
    Bring on the Pro! I'll buy a couple.
  • Reply 5 of 81
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    The comparison is always too simplistic. 

    1. If you care more about voice assistant capability then the cheaper option is of course an Echo or Google Home. 
    2. If audio quality is important then the HomePod is going to warrant additional looks because neither the Echo nor GH will amaze the music aficionado . 

    Not worries about the HomePod supporting just Apple Music.    As long as it supports airplay then it's pretty easy to get other sources onto the HomePod. 
    Multi-room audio changes everything.   

    The only problem I see is if their an app that doesn't want to support Airplay and if that's the case your issue is when them ..not Apple. 
    radarthekatcornchiplongpath
  • Reply 6 of 81
    jmey267 said:
    "40% among people that already own apple products", That is huge! adds yet another revenue stream to their lineup. 
    You say it's huge.  Wall Street will say it's tiny.  Just remember, everything Apple sells is measured against iPhone units and revenue.  HomePod will fall under "Other Products" and there will be no breakdown of sales.  We won't know if they're selling like hotcakes or not.  Wall Street will immediately assume the product is a failure because Apple won't release any HomePod sales figures.  Amazon doesn't release any sales figures for the Echo but EVERYONE says that's the hottest-selling product on the planet.  That figures.  AppleWatch is considered a failure, so surely the HomePod will also be considered a failure as they fall in the same category and price range.
    hzccornchip
  • Reply 7 of 81
    This is apples and oranges (no pun intended) -- they aren't equivalent devices.

    Amazon will come out with a HomePod competitor at a similar price point within a year or so, probably in partnership with Bose or Harmon Kardon or somebody like that.
    edited June 2017 cornchiplongpath
  • Reply 8 of 81
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I love my Echo products and I'm interested in what HomePod has to offer. I suspect we'll see a lot more features and integration this Fall when we have a proper special event dedicated to audio and video.
    radarthekat
  • Reply 9 of 81
    jmey267jmey267 Posts: 57member
    jmey267 said:
    "40% among people that already own apple products", That is huge! adds yet another revenue stream to their lineup. 
    You say it's huge.  Wall Street will say it's tiny.  Just remember, everything Apple sells is measured against iPhone units and revenue.  HomePod will fall under "Other Products" and there will be no breakdown of sales.  We won't know if they're selling like hotcakes or not.  Wall Street will immediately assume the product is a failure because Apple won't release any HomePod sales figures.  Amazon doesn't release any sales figures for the Echo but EVERYONE says that's the hottest-selling product on the planet.  That figures.  AppleWatch is considered a failure, so surely the HomePod will also be considered a failure as they fall in the same category and price range.
    You are so correct!
  • Reply 10 of 81
    jcs2305jcs2305 Posts: 1,336member
    The comparison is always too simplistic. 

    1. If you care more about voice assistant capability then the cheaper option is of course an Echo or Google Home. 
    2. If audio quality is important then the HomePod is going to warrant additional looks because neither the Echo nor GH will amaze the music aficionado . 

    Not worries about the HomePod supporting just Apple Music.    As long as it supports airplay then it's pretty easy to get other sources onto the HomePod. 
    Multi-room audio changes everything.   

    The only problem I see is if their an app that doesn't want to support Airplay and if that's the case your issue is when them ..not Apple. 
    I am in the audio quality camp. This speaker is more comparable to the Play 3, rather than one of the assistants ( Echo, Google Home ) in my opinion. I want top notch audio quality in a small package that works seamlessly with the iPhone's and iPad's in my home. The assistant piece is secondary for my needs. 
    longpath
  • Reply 11 of 81
    dachardachar Posts: 330member
    Can someone remind me, why has Apple announced a product 6 months before its estimated launch date? 
  • Reply 12 of 81
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    I love my iPhone but Echo is much more interesting in its product category. We'll be buying Echo or Echo Show depending on reviews of the Show later this month.
  • Reply 13 of 81
    78Bandit78Bandit Posts: 238member
    This is apples and oranges (no pun intended) -- they aren't equivalent devices.

    Amazon will come out with a HomePod competitor at a similar price point within a year or so, probably in partnership with Bose or Harmon Kardon or somebody like that.


    Harman Kardon is already partnering with Microsoft on the Invoke.  It has three tweeters, three woofers, and seven microphones.  I expect audio quality to be on par with the HomePod.  I've seen a rumored price of $200, but even $250 wouldn't surprise me.

    I don't think Amazon will release any higher quality versions of its products.  They are satisfied with "good enough".  What you may see is something from a company like JBL or Logitech based on their existing Bluetooth speakers that hook into Alexa for untethered listening.

  • Reply 14 of 81
    jdgazjdgaz Posts: 403member
    I don't care what the survey says. The first one I own will go in the master bathroom. And yes, audio quality matters as does privacy. Next time you survey folks make sure they know that Google and Amazon are listing to them.
  • Reply 15 of 81
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    dachar said:
    Can someone remind me, why has Apple announced a product 6 months before its estimated launch date? 
    This is par for the course. Look at all other new product categories Apple has launched. They all get a demo many months in advance for a variety of reasons.
  • Reply 16 of 81
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    Mark Gurman has a video out where he ponders if Apple did not tell us everything bc they are waiting for the iPhone 8 release...he feels they might have something in the speaker that is capable of doing near field charging of devices 


    edited June 2017
  • Reply 17 of 81
    dugbugdugbug Posts: 283member
    I'm very interested.  I'd like to know if Apple TV can use it for audio out
    longpath
  • Reply 18 of 81
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    jmey267 said:
    "40% among people that already own apple products", That is huge! adds yet another revenue stream to their lineup. 
    This is apples and oranges (no pun intended) -- they aren't equivalent devices.

    Amazon will come out with a HomePod competitor at a similar price point within a year or so, probably in partnership with Bose or Harmon Kardon or somebody like that.
    "interested" doesn't equal sales. Far from it, and don't forget that except on this site, Apple is a minority of the market. There will always be diehard Apple fans who will purchase nothing but, but Apple needs more than that market.

    Even if it's not the same as Amazon Echo, for many people it is, at least in their minds. Amazon has a huge head start in brand awareness, brand integration (how many products have you seen that say 'works with Amazon Echo?') feature development and market penetration. Apple is coming to the game very late and has a big hill to climb.
    williamlondonairnerd
  • Reply 19 of 81
    dachar said:
    Can someone remind me, why has Apple announced a product 6 months before its estimated launch date? 
    The context should give you a clue -- the World Wide Developer's Conference. To start as strongly as possible, this needs to have software that works with it. That doesn't happen overnight.
    pscooter63
  • Reply 20 of 81
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    MplsP said:
    jmey267 said:
    "40% among people that already own apple products", That is huge! adds yet another revenue stream to their lineup. 
    This is apples and oranges (no pun intended) -- they aren't equivalent devices.

    Amazon will come out with a HomePod competitor at a similar price point within a year or so, probably in partnership with Bose or Harmon Kardon or somebody like that.
    "interested" doesn't equal sales. Far from it, and don't forget that except on this site, Apple is a minority of the market. There will always be diehard Apple fans who will purchase nothing but, but Apple needs more than that market.

    Even if it's not the same as Amazon Echo, for many people it is, at least in their minds. Amazon has a huge head start in brand awareness, brand integration (how many products have you seen that say 'works with Amazon Echo?') feature development and market penetration. Apple is coming to the game very late and has a big hill to climb.
    A bit like they did with smartphones. 
    brucemc
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