Apple sold about 600,000 HomePods in the first quarter

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2018
Apple may have shipped just 600,000 HomePods during the March quarter, according to an estimate published on Thursday, giving it 6 percent of the fledgling smart speaker market.

Apple HomePod


The figure puts Apple well behind Amazon in sales volume, with the online retailer believed to have shipped 4 million Echo speakers, Strategy Analytics said. Amazon's take of the segment grew 102 percent year-over-year.

In second place was Google, estimated to have jumped ahead 709 percent to 2.4 million Home devices. Apple came in fourth behind China's Alibaba, which managed about 700,000 units and a 7.6 percent share.

There are caveats to the data -- Amazon and Google achieved their performance despite their speakers not being available in the Chinese market. The HomePod wasn't available for the whole quarter, having only debuted on Feb. 9. Also, the data says nothing about average selling price, which in every case is well below that of Apple's $349 for the HomePod, a relevant consideration given that the Echo Dot retails for $50.

Analysts have suggested however that sales aren't as strong as the company was expecting/ former KGI staffer Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that Apple will sell between 2 million and 2.5 million units by the end of the year. If accurate, that still makes HomePod business alone worth more than $700 million dollars.

Multiple reports have hinted that Apple is working on a cheaper version of the speaker that will increase its appeal. The current HomePod costs $349, making it more expensive than most Echo and Home options, and even Sonos' Alexa-equipped One speaker.

If it exists, a lower-cost HomePod is rumored to ship later in 2018.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    You know what would be nice? Apple Stores not playing music so that you can actually hear the HomePod they have on display. I mean… Oh, and their displays ought to have more than one song available.
    allmypeoplerob53king editor the grateclaire1h2prevenantchristophbmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 2 of 48
    I wonder where these estimates come from considering, as far as I know, neither Apple nor Amazon release sales figures (in this category). 
    LukeCagelolliverMuntzwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 48
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    How could this estimate possibly be accurate? I put no faith in these figures.
    LukeCagegilly017lollivercornchipMuntzwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 48
    KuyangkohKuyangkoh Posts: 838member
    Isn’t thats what they been sayings about apple watch before? 
    So Amazon will sell 7 echo dot in comparison to 1 homepod sale??
    Anyway I always used my homepod as real speakers for TV and streaming and used my phones for any assistance which I carry all the time.
    Maybe I’m on the minority...;-))
    andrewj5790Muntzwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 48
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    Why is the HomePod being compared to the filth & trash of surveillance companies (Amazon & Google) ?
    rob53claire1baconstangh2pgilly017patchythepiratelolliverMuntzjmey267watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 48
    techprod1gytechprod1gy Posts: 838member
    Yaaaaaaaawn
    equality72521cornchipMuntz
  • Reply 7 of 48
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    You know what would be nice? Apple Stores not playing music so that you can actually hear the HomePod they have on display. I mean… Oh, and their displays ought to have more than one song available.
    Totally agree was just in a small Apple Store and they had at least 4 HomePods in display and I wanted to listen to one. I guess I could have used one of the 50 headphones they had. /s 
  • Reply 8 of 48
    Oh, and their displays ought to have more than one song available.
    All the songs should have cuss words. Seriously though, I figured Apple's attention to detail would lead to listening booths where people could cue up tunes of their choosing.
  • Reply 9 of 48
    I love my Apple HomePod speaker. Our HomePod makes our Amazon smart speakers look like toys when playing music. I just hope HomePod starts catching up somewhat to all Amazon’s speakers smart capabilities. One step at a time I guess. 
    StrangeDaysh2pchasmlolliveraxcoatlwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 48
    claire1claire1 Posts: 510unconfirmed, member
    Not sure why HomePod is constantly being compared to Echo when this is a bluetooth speaker competitor like Beats Pill and those popular JBLs.
    StrangeDaysgilly017chasmaxcoatlMuntz
  • Reply 11 of 48
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    You know what would be nice? Apple Stores not playing music so that you can actually hear the HomePod they have on display. I mean… Oh, and their displays ought to have more than one song available.
    Must be your store. Every time I go to mine there's no trouble at all playing with and listening to the HP.
    Muntz
  • Reply 12 of 48
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member

    Oh, and their displays ought to have more than one song available.
    All the songs should have cuss words. Seriously though, I figured Apple's attention to detail would lead to listening booths where people could cue up tunes of their choosing.
    "Listening booths" on the store floor would be incredibly dorky. Nope. The demo unit is good enough to get a taste, but more than that is kinda unnecessary since your own space will be different. If on the fence just get one, try it out, and if need be bring it back. Much better plan than installing "listening booths".
    edited May 2018 patchythepirateMuntzericthehalfbee
  • Reply 13 of 48
    They have to be guessing at those figures as there's no way to tell by way of Apple. I can only trust Apple to give the correct figures if they're going to give them at all. As a shareholder, I don't need to know how many HomePods are being sold as long as Apple's revenue increases in whatever combined category the HomePod falls under. The HomePod has a long way to go to get all the features it was intended to have. A year is fine as long as Apple has other products that are selling. The HomePod is likely a long-term play and there's no way it's going to immediately go up against Amazon Echo devices that are practically disposable. There's no way Amazon can lose based on unit sales but revenue and profits will certainly be to Apple's advantage. As the hardware is quite advanced, once Apple improves Siri, the HomePod will be a revenue driver.
    gregg thurmanclaire1axcoatl
  • Reply 14 of 48
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    I would not be surprised. Every review I've read says it sounds great but Siri is dumb as a post. I hope this lights a fire under Apple to overhaul and update Siri. It's embarrassing to see what other systems can do that Siri can't. Thast's not even mentioning the system Google previewed last week. THAT is what Siri should be capable of.
    edited May 2018 patchythepiratekimberlycornchip
  • Reply 15 of 48
    Any word on Airplay 2? I don't get the delay on that. It seems like a useful selling point.
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 48
    claire1 said:
    Not sure why HomePod is constantly being compared to Echo when this is a bluetooth speaker competitor like Beats Pill and those popular JBLs.
    I agree, but that's the way it is.

    Looking at revenues (as an investor I'm far more interested in revenue than I am units sold) I find that Amazon's Echo generated about $196 Million with gross margins of approximately 14%. ($27.4 million) in a THREE month period.

    If the 600,000 units sold reported by Strategy Analytics is accurate, then HomePod generated $209.4 million in revenue with gross margins of about 44% ($92.1 million) in a TWO month period.

    IOW, on 15% of Echo unit volume, HomePod generated 3.3X gross margin dollars.

    It's obvious that Amazon's intent with the Echo is not to make a profit, rather Amazon wants a device (no matter how cheaply made) to drive more Amazon online sales.  I don't see it.  When I buy something online I want to see what it is that I'm buying and maybe do some comparison shopping.

    Will Apple ever sell as many HomePods as do Amazon or Google?  No.  The focus of the former is low-cost volume with profits driven from other aspects of their respective businesses.  Apple focus is producing the best quality products that appeal to a more affluent and discerning geographic.  Criticisms of SIRI are overblown in my opinion.  True, SIRI can't respond with as much info as does Alexa and Google Home, but I think it is important to understand that Alexa and Google Home rely on cloud ML to improve, while SIRI's ML is device limited.  Over time SIRI's response to the user will become more and more accurate without giving up privacy.
    retrogustothth2paxcoatlRonnnieOjmey267watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 48
    Uh.... this is like comparing iPads to “tablets” that range from $50 to $300. So, six percent market share in a partial quarter, with a much higher selling price than, say, the echo dot. Not bad, and actually a fairly typical start for Apple in a given market. 
    h2paxcoatljmey267watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 48
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I wonder where these estimates come from considering, as far as I know, neither Apple nor Amazon release sales figures (in this category). 
    Supply chain checks of course.  B)
    claire1cornchip
  • Reply 19 of 48
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    DAalseth said:
    I would not be surprised. Every review I';ve read says it sounds great but Siri is dumb as a post. I hope this lights a fire under apple to overhaul and update Siri. It's embarrassing to see what other systems can do that Siri can't. Thast's not even mentioning the system Google previewed last week. THAT is what Siri should be capable of.
    I use Siri and an Echo Dot and I don’t see the so-called embarrassment you claim about Siri. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 48
    harry wildharry wild Posts: 807member
    As bad as Siri is, Apple still manage to do well in the personal assistant space with the Homepod and try to sell it as a Sono competitor and not as a Google or Amazon competitor!  They did pretty well given what they had to work with!
    claire1
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