Apple could revisit the smart speaker segment with an all-new HomePod speaker as per new reports courtesy Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple stopped selling its first-gen smart speaker and instead brought the HomePod Mini at a lower price point. But Kuo seems to believe that Apple could have a new bigger-sized HomePod in the market either by end of this year or launch it in early 2023.
Apple would release a new version of HomePod in 4Q22-1Q23, and there may not be much innovation in hardware design. Smart speakers are undoubtedly one of the essential elements of the home ecosystem, but I think Apple is still figuring out how to succeed in this market.— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 20, 2022
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He also suggests the new HomePod speaker could be offered with toned-down features, and probably different build quality to keep the price down. Considering the HomePod Mini sells for $99 (but Rs 9,000 in India), it is possible that the new HomePod could be $100 or $150 more than the Mini version.
But more than the hardware, Apple needs Siri to make the speaker to the talking. The smart home segment offers competition in the form of Google Assistant and Alexa from Amazon, both of which have evolved to deliver better results. Apple has failed to build that traction with Siri, limiting its use to iPhones in most cases.
But the new HomePod needs a more mature Siri to become effective, and also justify Apple’s decision to dive into the high-end smart speaker segment once again. The new Siri will also be expected to be part of the rumoured Apple device which is expected to carry a camera and a screen to support FaceTime calls among other features.
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HomePods generally didn’t set the market on fire, which is a rare case for Apple. And the company will be hoping its fortunes in the smart home market change, paving the way for more products in the segment.
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As well as helping the HomeKit ecosystem evolve and become a viable challenger to the existing duo in the smart home industry.
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