Amazon hit on a winner with its Echo smart speaker. Made up of a speaker and a digital assistant, the product took off, and soon smart displays were being produced. Apple first put its toes into the smart speaker market with the release of the HomePod in February 2018. But the HomePod failed to take off as the $349 price made it one of the more expensive models in a category where low-end speakers can be purchased during holidays for as low as $25.
So Apple went back to the drawing board and released the smaller-sized HomePod mini in November 2020 and discontinued the full-size model this past March. The mini is priced at a more reasonable $99 and it appears that the strategy of downsizing the product and the price turned out to be a winner as far as Apple is concerned. Research firm Strategy Analytics (via AppleInsider) has just released its third-quarter shipping numbers for the smart speaker market and it shows that Apple doubled its market share during the period.
Apple delivered an estimated four million units during the quarter giving it 10.2% of the smart speaker market from July through September. During last year’s third quarter Apple’s smart speaker shipments made up 5.9% of the market.
As has been the case since the first Echo was shipped in March 2014 to Prime members, Amazon is firmly entrenched as the top manufacturer in the industry. During the third quarter, Amazon’s leading market share came to 26.4% with Google’s 20.5% share good enough for second. place. Baidu and Alibaba were third and fourth, respectively, and Apple was number five.
While Apple added new colors to the HomePod mini earlier this year, the competition has multiple smart display models while Apple, for now, doesn’t. Still, there is speculation about Apple developing smart screens including a 15-inch model that would double as an iPad. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is reportedly working on such a device. Another rumored device is an Apple TV with a built-in camera and a HomePod speaker.
The HomePod mini features that Apple promotes include sound that it says fills an entire room, the ability to control smart home appliances, an intelligent assistant (you mean Siri has been replaced?), the ability to work seamlessly with the iPhone, and the privacy and security of HomePod mini.
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