“In a Micro Interface Oil Remover Equipment blog post Technalysis Research founder Bob ODonnell depicted Apples latest product news as an affirmation that the company has not fallen behind competitors and is working to take advantage of potentially exciting new technologies.Apple lovers already tend to be “premium product buyers,” and may not flinch at paying more for what they believe is a superior quality product, said Gartner analyst Brian Blau.HomePod will take on Amazon Echo and Google Home, which have momentum in the arena of voice-controlled speakers capable of controlling smart appliances, fetching content from the internet and more.HomePods tuneApple played up the rich speaker quality of HomePod, and synched it with the companys music service that boasts 27 million subscribers.Apple be saving some insights into HomePod for later this year when it is expected to unveil a tenth-anniversary edition of the iPhone.”Apples base should like it, because they are committed to the ecosystem,” Enderle said of HomePod.Analysts are yet to be convinced that HomePod will rock the smart speaker market the way iPhones came to rule the smartphone world and iPods dominated MP3 players.”There was no overwhelming differentiation in HomePod, according to the analyst.Apple unveiled its long-awaited HomePod at its annual developers conference taking place this week in the heart of Silicon Valley, enticing lovers of its products with a high-end offering in a market dominated by lower-priced devices from Amazon and Google .”Yes, some songs may sound pleasing, but for true audiophiles who actually want to hear what the artist and producer intended, Apples positioning of the HomePod as super high-quality speaker is going to be a very tough sell,” ODonnell said in a blog post.Apple vice president Phil Schiller said the companys Siri team tuned the virtual assistant as a “musicologist” that learns the tastes of listeners and gets songs from the internet cloud. But he saw a big negative — it is more expensive.”If we are comparing this to Apples past successes, it doesnt fit that model,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.”
This product is much more of a me-too offering.”I think, over time, they are going to do just fine in this category but it is going to take a while,” the analyst said.”Is it going to be an Echo killer? A Google Home killer? We are going to have to wait and see.Since HomePod will not hit the market until December, it is unlikely to catch much of the year-end holiday shopping wave and post big sales this year, according to Blau.But ODonnell also expressed skepticism on Apples ability to dominate this new segment.”If you are paying the extra money because Apple is requiring you to do so to access your stuff, that is the Apple tax and it is the kind of thing that people dont like.The speaker has the “power to rock the house,” according to Schiller, and the aim is to make HomePod a voice-commanded assistant for news, messages, weather, traffic, home controls and more.Amazon sells Echo devices for $179, and smaller “Dot” versions for $50.Apples new HomePod speaker may be music to the ears of its loyal fans, but how much it can crank up volume in the smart speaker market remains to be heard.”HomePod combined elements of Echo and Sonos smart speakers, known for rich sound quality, according to Reticle Research principal analyst Ross Rubin. Google sells Home for $180, promoting the smart speakers with discounts.HomePod, infused with machine smarts by Siri digital assistant, will be priced at $349 when it begins shipping in December in the United States, Australia and Britain.”We have to imagine there is going to be more there,” Blau said.Just a glimpseBlau suspected Apple only gave a glimpse at its vision for HomePod, noting its potential to be a command center for smart houses and to mesh with iPhones, iPads, online services and more..”I dont think it will be the next iPhone,” Blau said of HomePod, “but, Apple could gain share and be a leader.
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