Apple has never been able to make a home run in the smart speaker market. The company’s HomePod was pricey at $349 when it released in February 2018. In the end, Apple lowered the price by $50 to $299, but that still wasn’t enough for Apple to gain some traction. Finally, in November 2020, Apple released the HomePod mini, priced at $99 to compete with the smaller and cheaper models from Amazon and Google.
Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t expect Apple to make major changes to the design of a new HomePod device
Another possibility is a new version of the HomePod mini. Regardless, Kuo says not to expect much of a change in hardware design. The analyst specifically said, “There may not be much innovation in hardware design.” Kuo also says that while smart speakers are “undoubtedly one of the essential elements of the home ecosystem,” he believes Apple has yet to figure out a way for it to succeed in this market.
The original Apple HomePod was too expensive thanks to its ambitious speaker design
At the moment, Siri follows both Google Assistant and Alexa when it comes to intelligence, understanding and, according to many phone enthusiasts, appearance. If Apple can develop a new and improved HomePod, it will help the company create a smart speaker that would be great for the living room and other large rooms in the house. And the HomePod mini could be used in smaller rooms where the massive speaker size of the original model isn’t required.
