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HomePod is Ninth Most Popular Smart Speaker in United States According to Recent Survey

Monday October 22, 2018 10:35 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's HomePod is the ninth most popular smart speaker model in the United States, according to an online survey of 1,011 smart speaker users conducted by research firm Strategy Analytics in July and August.


The top eight positions are held by various Amazon Echo and Google Home models in the Strategy Analytics rankings. The standard Amazon Echo tops the list with an estimated 23 percent share of the U.S. installed base of smart speakers, while the HomePod is estimated to have just four percent market share.
  • Amazon Echo: 23%
  • Amazon Echo Dot: 21%
  • Google Home: 8%
  • Google Home Mini: 7%
  • Amazon Echo Plus: 5%
  • Amazon Echo Spot: 4%
  • Amazon Echo Show: 4%
  • Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition: 4%
  • Apple HomePod: 4%
  • Google Home Max: 2%
Apple does not disclose HomePod sales in its quarterly earnings results. In August, Strategy Analytics estimated that HomePod shipments totaled 700,000 units in the second quarter of 2018, giving Apple a roughly six percent share of the worldwide smart speaker market at the time.

While the HomePod may have only a single-digit share of the overall market, Strategy Analytics shared data last month indicating that Apple accounts for 70 percent of the small but growing $200-plus smart speaker market, topping competing products such as the Google Home Max and a variety of Sonos speakers.

That data shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as Amazon Echo and Google Home models are regularly priced as low as $49, whereas the HomePod retails for $349. Apple has marketed the HomePod as a premium speaker that also has Siri, as opposed to a personal assistant that also plays music.

It's also worth noting that the HomePod only launched this past February, two to three years after its biggest competitors. Today, the HomePod is available in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, and Germany, with sales set to begin in Mexico and Spain on Friday.

Back in April, well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was "mulling" a "low-cost version" of the HomePod, possibly in the form of a Siri-enabled Beats speaker. The status of those plans is unclear.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Tag: Strategy Analytics
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)
[ 160 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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DakotaGuy
13 weeks ago
As long as it has very limited capabilities and compatibility at a very high price I don't see it moving up much from 9th place.
Rating: 30 Votes
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Greenmeenie
13 weeks ago
Maybe I am in the minority, but I cannot imagine myself ever having one of these things in my home. Ever.
Rating: 22 Votes
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Mac4Brains
13 weeks ago

As long as it has very limited capabilities and compatibility at a very high price I don't see it moving up much from 9th place.


Apple has made several attempts to produce good speakers. All failed due to a combination of compatibility and price.

I still have a iSub that does not work on any intel Mac, and that is USB so it is simply not supported by apple anymore.
The only reference I can find for the older Apple Hi-Fi speakers is the original press release.

I am quite sure there are more but they don't come to mind.

Apple needs to:
USE THE DAMM UNIVERSAL SPEAKER PLUG AND STOP USING PROPRIETARY CONNECTORS
support the speaker after it is released.
price them so they are worth it.

I spent $350 on good speakers I got in the late 1990's that I am still using six computers later.
the iSub I got with my one of my Mac's only ever worked on that computer.

Now to push you into getting Apple made speakers they are more focused on removing the industry standard 3.5mm connectors to push you to use the overpriced junk they make. In order to use good speakers you may already have you need to dish out an extra $10 to do so.

In the end I can go on an extended rant on how I am starting to dislike Tim Cook.
Rating: 18 Votes
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Goldex
13 weeks ago

When the price falls below $100 for the HomePod, I will more than happy to get several.

Same, and when the iPhone XS drops below $100, I'm certain I'll get several as well.
Rating: 18 Votes
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mi7chy
13 weeks ago
Looks worse if you combine products by company...

Amazon 61%
Google 17%
Apple 4%

Amazon is killing it on the hardware front but Google is still king in AI, software and services. I've found myself drifting away from Apple to Google and now to Amazon devices (Fire HD 10 2017 tablet and Fire TV Stick 2nd gen and soon to be Fire TV Stick 4K).
Rating: 11 Votes
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VSG
13 weeks ago
I just had to see for myself – on Twitter I only read "ninth most popular" … ninth out of how many??

Why don't you just say "HomePod is on the before-last spot in customer satisfaction survey"?
I love my :apple: products but with the state of Siri, I can't justify buying a HomePod and I wouldn't trade my Echos for a second.
But still, a little less Apple Fanboyism would be nice every once in a while. At least when it comes to phrasing headlines. ;)
Rating: 10 Votes
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Mac4Brains
13 weeks ago
When the price falls below $100 for the HomePod, I will more than happy to get several.
Rating: 9 Votes
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DrJohnnyN
13 weeks ago
Too late to the market and way overpriced.
Rating: 7 Votes
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Aston441
13 weeks ago

I started out not really seeing the usefulness in HomePods or smart speakers in general (despite already owning tons of HomeKit accessories) but I picked one up anyway, mainly to use as a speaker. Now I have 3 of them and love how useful they are. Siri is very responsive and easy to use and I love how natural sounding the responses are. The mics can pick up my voice clear across the house and its so easy to control my smart devices that I've already starting adding even more HomeKit devices to my house. I have a few speakers with Alexa (Sonos One) and I very quickly disabled the smart assistant feature. Alexa never understands me or it would listen and then not complete my request without giving any audio cues as to why. I found you had to be very careful to use specific wording in order to get the correct response, and the responses sounded robotic. The HomePod feels like I'm talking to a person and has been easy enough for guests to control with very little instruction. They might be pricey but they work great and sound amazing.



I don't believe you are a real person.
Rating: 7 Votes
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ThisBougieLife
13 weeks ago

Maybe I am in the minority, but I cannot imagine myself ever having one of these things in my home. Ever.


Same. My friend has an Echo and it was fun to play with for about 15 minutes. That was the extent of my interest in it. "Smart speakers" don't appeal to me.
Rating: 7 Votes

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