A recent report from Bloomberg has revealed that Apple’s HomePod speakers has actually been in development since 2012, and isn’t necessarily a direct response to Amazon and Google’s own smart speakers. However with the speakers being delayed to 2018, could Apple play catchup?
According to the same report from Bloomberg, it seems that Apple is apparently relatively optimistic about the success of the HomePod, with their source claiming that Apple has told suppliers that they expect to sell 4 million units of the HomePod when it launches next year, but the question is, is 4 million units a lot?
For most companies we expect that is a huge figure, but given that undeniable comparison between the HomePod and Amazon’s Echo devices, analysts at CIRP have estimated that Amazon has sold 15 million units of the Echo speakers since it has gone on sale in 2015, meaning that 4 million for the first year pales in comparison to the Echo’s average of 7.5 million units sold per year.
It is possible that the HomePod could end up being a bigger hit than Apple expected and could sell more, or it could prove to be a huge flop and sells even less than expected. Its asking price of $350 also makes it less accessible compared to the Echo, but we suppose we’ll just have to wait until 2018 to find out if Apple has another hit product on its hands.