Barclays Says AirPods Continue to Grow, HomePod Sales Have Been Underwhelming

Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis and his associates recently spent a week in Asia meeting with companies within Apple's supply chain, and today they shared research on iPhones, AirPods, and the HomePod gathered from their trip.

homepod airpods
In terms of AirPods, the analysts expect Apple will continue to increase production of the wireless earphones. Barclays forecasts that AirPods shipments will likely approach 30 million units in 2018, within the ballpark of KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's estimate of 26-28 million units.

AirPods remain backordered on Apple's online store, with orders placed today estimated for delivery within 12 to 13 days in the United States and several other countries. The wireless earphones have been in short supply since December after availability briefly improved during the fall months.

The lengthy shipping estimates for AirPods suggests Apple may still be having difficulties manufacturing the wireless earphones, can't keep up with strong demand, or is dealing with some combination of those two factors.

Apple doesn't disclose AirPod sales, but chief executive Tim Cook said the company's total revenue from wearables was up almost 70 percent year over year. Apple's broad "Other Products" category, including AirPods, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, set a new all-time record with $5.5 billion in revenue last quarter.

In contrast with the popularity of AirPods, Barclays says HomePod sales have been "underwhelming" so far. The research note says Apple planned an initial production run of 6-7 million units, but it's unclear how many have sold.

Apple will soon release a wireless charging case for AirPods to be used with its upcoming AirPower charging mat. Beyond that, Bloomberg reported that Apple may release new AirPods with "Hey Siri" functionality as early as this year, and a subsequent pair with water resistance as early as next year.

Barclays also believes Apple will release a new pair of AirPods in early 2019, but it's unclear if they are referring to the pair with "Hey Siri" functionality or the subsequent water-resistant ones.

And for the HomePod, a relatively sketchy rumor out of China suggests Apple may release a smaller version of the speaker later this year for between $150 and $200 in the United States. No further details were provided.

The research note corroborates Apple's widely rumored plans to launch a new iPhone X, a so-called iPhone X Plus, and a lower-priced 6.1-inch iPhone X-like device with some design compromises such as an LCD instead of OLED display, 3GB of RAM instead of 4GB, a single-lens rear camera, and no 3D Touch.

An excerpt from the research note, edited slightly for clarity:

Looking ahead, we expect iPhone X production to cease entirely before this year's launches and now believe the 6.1" LCD model could be half or even more of the mix in the second half of 2018. The LCD version will likely be tiered between the iPhone 8 and iPhone X2 with cut down features; we expect it will have only 3GB RAM, a single rear camera, and lack 3D Touch, but still have the new form factor with Face ID. In terms of lower Bill of Materials, we note the LCD screen module costs less than half the cost of an OLED one. Further, we expect the iPhone X2 and a Plus-sized version to also be launched, likely with 4GB of RAM, and Intel to gain modem share this cycle. However, rear 3D-sensing doesn't happen until 2019 or later.

The information about the new iPhones is entirely in line with research previously shared by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Related Roundups: HomePod, AirPods 3

Top Rated Comments

jerry16 Avatar
68 months ago
Can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want this entirely competent assistant for the low price of $350

Attachment Image
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kuwxman Avatar
68 months ago
What did they expect? It has extremely limited capabilities versus the infinitely cheaper Amazon and Google options.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GadgetBen Avatar
68 months ago
Because Siri is rubbish and it can't even do the same tasks as Siri on the iPhone.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
noles1983 Avatar
68 months ago
HomePod, when you have more money than sense.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iapplelove Avatar
68 months ago
I have yet to speak to one person in my day to day life that purchased or wants to purchase a HomePod.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JilzVT Avatar
68 months ago
Late to market check ✅
Overpriced ✅
Inferior AI ✅

Not too surprising.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

lockdown

'Lockdown' Firewall App That Lets You Block Ads and Trackers in All Apps Expands to Mac

Friday February 14, 2020 12:12 pm PST by
Lockdown, a popular open source firewall app that's designed to let users block any connection to any domain, is now available for Macs in addition to iOS devices. Launched on the iPhone back in July, Lockdown blocks ad tracking services, analytics platforms that monitor device usage, ads, and more across all apps that you use (rather than just Safari like most ad blockers). Lockdown on iOS...
Google Assistant

Google I/O 2016: Assistant, Home, Allo, Duo, Android N, and More

Wednesday May 18, 2016 11:51 am PDT by
Google hosted its annual I/O developers keynote at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California today, announcing multiple new products and services related to Android, search, messaging, home automation, and more. Google Assistant Google Assistant is described as a "conversational assistant" that builds upon Google Now based on two-way dialog. The tool can be used, for example,...