Almost a quarter of Apple customers in the U.S. own an Apple TV, according to new data shared by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). As reported by Cult of Mac, the survey asked U.S. Apple customers which devices they own, and Apple TV came out top in the "Other Products" category, suggesting the set-top box is more widely used than AirPods and Apple Watch.
"Apple TV is the most popular of the gadgets among the Other Products, with about one-quarter of current customers owning one," said Mike Levin, CIRP partner and co-founder. "Apple TV has been around for many years, so we're not surprised that it has achieved this penetration."
Apple Watch came in second in the Other Products category, with around 20 percent of Apple customers owning the iPhone accessory, while less than 10 percent of customers own a pair or AirPods.
It's important to note that the survey doesn't tally new sales, but devices that are in use as of September 2019, regardless of when they were purchased. Even so, the results show a several percentage point rise in Apple TV penetration over the last year.
That bodes well for Apple TV+, the company's streaming service which launched on November 1 featuring $2 billion worth of original programming. For $4.99 per month, Apple TV+ subscribers can watch Apple Originals on their television via Apple's set-top box. The service is also available on iOS devices and Mac via the TV app, as well as select Samsung smart TVs and Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices.
As for HomePod, Apple's $299 smart speaker "trails both Amazon Echo and Google Home, even among Apple customers," noted Levin. Apple cut the price of HomePod by $50 in April, down from $349. Apple does not disclose exact HomePod sales figures.
Rumors have suggested that Apple is considering a more affordable version of the HomePod that could be priced as low as $150, but it's not clear if and when Apple might release such a speaker.
CIRP bases its findings on a survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers, surveyed from September 29 to October 10, 2019 that purchased an Apple device in the U.S. in July-September 2019 period.
Top Rated Comments
Let's deconstruct your claims for a minute.Drop the Apple TV to $69, with an A12, remove the Apple TV 4K or make it Apple TV Pro for $169 with a A12X chip.
At this point, Apple has no competitive edge, most TVs don't need an extra dongle and with the advent of airplay being on every TV, even less incentive for people to buy Apple TV.
* Why drop the price to 69 bucks? Is 169 really that much?
* Do you really need that A12 or 12X chip? In my experience it works just fine with the chip it has.
* There is no need to compete when you own the ecosystem. Few people get this part.
* Most TVs have a crappy UI, terrible OS maintenance, app support and near inexistent developer community. The Apple TV has all those missing elements.
* Most TVs also don't act as a smart-home hub. The Apple TV does.
* AirPlay is NOT on every TV. Not even on every NEW TV. Sweeping statement...
At this point, Apple has no competitive edge, most TVs don't need an extra dongle and with the advent of airplay being on every TV, even less incentive for people to buy Apple TV.
Am I missing something?
That's called sampling bias. My experience is the opposite -- I know more people with Apple TVs than AirPods. That's also a biased sample because it's only people I know rather than a (hopefully random) sample from Apple users in the U.S.Doesn’t make sense. I know so many people with AirPods but no one with appletv.
If you look at the competition, you’d notice that a majority of the market doesn’t care about having a “home speaker.” All they want to do is be able to issue commands to a smart assistant. The Amazon Echo products are eating Apple for lunch because everything works with Alexa and you can talk to Alexa with $25, $50, $100, $200, and $300 devices, depending on what you’re interested in. You can have one in every room for less than the price of a single HomePod.Where does the idea that $299 is not an affordable price for a quality home speaker come from? It's certainly not based on market pricing for compact speakers and headphones. It's very easy to find a wide range of similar products in that price range. That's a mid-range price.