Roger Fingas
Although early HomePod orders appear to be doing well, Apple could ship a "low-end" model this fall costing between $150 and $200 instead of the current model's $349, an analyst said Friday in an investor memo seen by AppleInsider.
"Loooking at the success of Amazon's Echo products we believe demand could exceed 10 million units this calendar year," wrote Rosenblatt Securities' Jun Zhang. Apple is forecast to ship about 6 million units of the full-size product.
Zhang didn't propose what features a second HomePod model might have, but much of Amazon's success can be attributed to the Echo Dot, which sacrifices built-in sound quality in exchange for a $40-50 pricetag, about half the cost of a full-size Echo. The difference makes it practical to equip multiple rooms with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant.
A cheaper HomePod would offer a similar benefit for Siri, but Apple might not be willing to sacrifice sound. The company has touted the product as a speaker first and AI platform second, focuing its marketing on technologies like beamforming, room correction, and the use of seven tweeters plus a dedicated woofer.
Separately, Zhang supported the idea that Apple's 2018 lineup will include things like a faster iPhone SE and an iPad Pro with a TrueDepth camera. He also suggested the possibility of a (Product)Red iPhone 8 Plus, with estimated shipments around 3 million.
"We do not expect a red iPhone X model since the metal frame is too challenging to paint," Zhang wrote.
Unusually, the analyst predicted a new Apple Pencil, not just for the iPad Pro but for a rumored 6.5-inch "iPhone X Plus." Giving the device a stylus might put it in more direct competition with Samsung's Galaxy Note series.
It is unclear where or how Zhang is sourcing his predictions.
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59 Comments
This is crap. That is not the market Apple cares about and they are going to outsell Amazon in 1.5 years.
I doubt the veracity of this article. Apple has staked out the high quality sound end of the market with Siri functionality. Creating a smaller version would require a very different strategy and approach. Amazon sells cheap Echos because they want people to leverage Amazon services. However, after a few weeks of the novelty wearing off, most people use these devices to listen to music and get the weather.
I also doubt that a stylus will be made for the iPhone. The stylus makes sense for the iPad Pro because the advanced functionality for writing, notes, drawing, etc. demand a high precision device. You don't need it for pointers and writing on a phone sized screen is not easy or natural.
Just because the market is doing something doesn't mean that Apple is going to follow. There has to be real world functional use cases, not just features in search of a solution.
The predictions about the iPhone SE and iPad are much more plausible than the rest of this silliness.