Neil Cybart 1/19/23 Neil Cybart 1/19/23

Smart Speaker Competition, HomePod vs. Sonos, HomePod's Most Formidable Competitor (Daily Update)

Hello everyone. There were a few loose ends found with yesterday's update regarding HomePod and the changing competitive landscape. We will tackle those items today. The discussion goes over HomePod vs. Nest / Echo / Sonos. In addition, we go over what Neil views as the HomePod’s most formidable competitor.

Let's jump right in.

Smart Speaker Competition

The smart speaker landscape has seen quite a bit of change in just a few years. The late-2010s saw a wave of speakers enter the market spanning the price and feature spectrums. Companies that entered the space with cheap speakers introduced better-sounding speakers.

We have since seen something of a shaking out process. More niche speakers went on to be discontinued. Apple went through its share of smart speaker strategy changes.

The two big speaker players (Google and Amazon) currently have the following smart speaker product lines:

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Neil Cybart 1/18/23 Neil Cybart 1/18/23

Apple Brings Back HomePod, What Happened?, HomePod Changes (Daily Update)

Hello everyone. Happy Wednesday.

We have surprising news: HomePod is back. Earlier today, Apple unveiled a HomePod 2nd generation.

As a long-time HomePod user with 10 HomePods currently in use around my home (in five pairs), the HomePod has been an intriguing product. An Above Avalon Report from 2022 (available here) was dedicated to the HomePod discontinuation. We have a lot to discuss. Let's jump right in.

Apple Brings Back HomePod

In a surprise twist, Apple unveiled a 7-inch HomePod for the second time in six years. The speaker, which Apple is referring to as HomePod (2nd gen), will sit next to the HomePod mini.

In February 2018, Apple launched a 7-inch HomePod for $349. To avoid confusion, we will refer to that model as the original HomePod. After three years of sales, the original HomePod was discontinued in March 2021. At the time, Apple said they were going to put their focus on the HomePod mini:

“HomePod mini has been a hit since its debut last fall [2020], offering customers amazing sound, an intelligent assistant, and smart home control all for just $99. We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini.”

The sudden (and surprise) discontinuation rubbed HomePod owners the wrong way.

An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here.