SWTech

The Google Home Max is only briefly mentioned which misses the point of the main problem with Apple's approach. The Max is the same price but offers even better sound and the superior Google Assistant. It may be outsold by HomePod but that misses the point of comparing Google's offering. You only need one Max (it's quite loud), and can supplement that with the cheaper/smaller speakers. Example, I'd have to buy a HomePod for every room, too expensive when I can get one Max for the living area, the medium sized speaker for the kitchen, the screen/speaker for the dressing room and a couple of the little guys for less used rooms. I may have only purchased one Max but bought 5 speakers from Google across 4 different models that each met a need.

mjtomlin said:

bigtds said:

mjtomlin said:

bigtds said:

Too bad the HomePod is of no use to anyone outside the Apple ecosystem. Sonos provides a much better value and allows many more music services to be used. And it costs less and works with both Alexa and Google.

No it’s not too bad. The point of Apple creating these devices is to increase the investment and add value to their platforms and ecosystem. It should be obvious to EVERYONE, that Apple’s goal is not to be #1, which is why these statistics are absolutely worthless.

Sonos is a company that makes speakers for streaming audio... They DO NOT have sales and cannot survive as a company, unless they make that compatible with as many services and other devices as possible.

Apple clearly does not need to do that when they make a quarter of trillion dollars every year selling other things.

It is too bad for those that would like one but don't want anything else Apple. The fact that it doesn't even support Bluetooth streaming or a line-in makes it even more useless to anyone but a die-hard Apple fan. Locking it exclusively to the Apple ecosystem does not make it perform any better. The only thing this does is limit market share. Will the speaker perform worse by allowing Android access or access to other streaming services? I think not.

So what? Not sure why you're complaining about what it doesn't have - IT'S NOT FOR YOU. Apple is targeting a specific user; those that live in their ecosystem. They're not "suffering" by not reaching a wider audience. They're doing exactly as they intended. Some people may not like that, but there are other devices out there they can purchase and use.

Apple doesn't care what you think or what you want. They made the device they wanted to make. Period. I'm not being mean here, they make devices I would never buy or use either... But I don't complain about it. I JUST DON'T BUY IT!

If it fails to sell as they hoped, they can either make adjustments to possibly widen the appeal, or take it off the market altogether.

The bigger point is that clearly the HomePod isn't even the better choice for most Apple users. I have iPhones, Apple TV, Watches etc but went with Google Home Max and an assortment of their other speakers. Why? Not only because Siri is seriously behind but the Max sounds better at the same price, and Google offers different sizes and price points. I can still play music throughout the house but not every single speaker needs to be $300. It's a misstep when Apple users can find a better alternative elsewhere.