Just like how the Apple Watch is one of the more expensive wearables in the market today, so was the HomePod which at $350 makes it pricier than other smart speakers in the market. However unlike the Apple Watch which seems to be selling pretty well, the HomePod isn’t doing as hot and according to the latest figures, has only managed to sell 600,000 units to date.
This is according to a report from Strategy Analytics who claims that this has allowed Apple to capture about 6% of the global smart speaker market, putting them well behind the likes of Amazon and Google. While 600,000 is still a lot of speakers, compared to Amazon it pales in comparison as Amazon has reportedly shipped an estimated 4 million Echo devices during the same quarter.
This gives Amazon a 43.6% share of the market, followed by Google who commands 26.5% of the market with about 2.4 million Google Home speakers shipped in the first quarter of 2018. This is actually not the first time we’re hearing that the HomePod speakers aren’t doing as well as Apple would have liked.
Last month there were rumors that claimed Apple had halved their orders for the HomePod and could even be considering creating a low-cost model to help spur sales. Analysts are also slightly pessimistic about the HomePod’s success, with some estimating that Apple might only sell as little as 2 million units in 2018.