Despite somewhat mixed reviews, Apple’s HomePod is seemingly winning over the customers who have bought it, with 89 percent of HomePod-owning respondents to a survey claiming that they are either satisfied (59 percent) or very satisfied (30 percent) with the device.
While not quite up there with Apple’s best product satisfaction scores, it nonetheless suggests a bright future for Apple’s debut product in the smart speaker category.
The survey was of a relatively small sample of 520 U.S. customers, not all of whom had tried the HomePod. Instead, the survey was an attempt to see what percentage of the U.S. population own smart speakers (around one-third) and, of these, which speakers they owned. Amazon Echo dominates the market with 55 percent share, followed by Google Home at 23 percent, and Apple with 3 percent.
The survey found that the most common activities involving smart speakers are listening to music, getting weather updates, and asking general questions. It’s therefore no surprise that Apple’s HomePod — which seemingly everyone (except Consumer Reports) praises for its sound quality — ranks highly.
Although concerns have been raised about the quality of Siri, it seems that its limitations aren’t enough to put off many customers.
Adoption outpacing the smartphone
The most interesting part of the report is that, it claims, smart speaker adoption is outpacing that of the smartphone. That’s amazing if accurate, although before anyone gets too excited about the HomePod’s potential for overtaking the iPhone in terms of Apple’s main revenue earner, it’s worth considering that there’s plenty we still don’t know about smart speaker buying habits.
The iPad remains Apple’s fastest-selling new product of all time, only for its growth to stall because customers don’t upgrade their tablets as often as they do their phones.
While Amazon has done a good job of maintaining interest in new Echo devices by introducing different form factors and features, such as a touchscreen display, I expect smart speaker growth will ultimately be more akin to the tablet than the smartphone. That’s especially true if, as is the case with Apple, it focuses more on audio quality than other smart assistant features.
Have you bought a HomePod or other smart speaker yet? How do you see the industry evolving over the next few years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Loup Ventures
