One-Third of Apple Owners Have Smart Speakers; 2% Own HomePods, Says CIRP

Two percent of Apple customers own a HomePod smart speaker, and a third own smart speakers, said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Tuesday. Some 20 percent of Apple customers own a media player, said analyst Mike Levin, noting that after “starting high, Apple now offers Apple TV models [$179, $199] priced closer to competitors than it prices HomePod [$349]." More competitive pricing enabled Apple to penetrate its customer base in the media player category, Levin said. Apple didn’t do much to raise HomePod’s appeal in its high-profile product release last week (see 1809120048). Industry followers and Apple aficionados were hoping for a smaller, more affordable HomePod mini, an Apple version of Amazon’s Echo Dot and Google Home mini, but “there is little time for Apple to release a competitive model for Christmas 2018,” Levin said. Across the smart speaker market, consumers gravitate to the lowest-priced models from Amazon and Google, with the Echo Dot having more than half of the Echo installed base and Home mini at 40 percent of the Google Home installed base, said Levin: The downsizing means Amazon and Google have sold more total speakers while encouraging consumers to “own more units and integrate their respective platforms into their households.” About a third of Echo and Home users own more than one device, he said.