Strategy Analytics: HomePod mini Was Best Selling Smart Speaker in Q1
09 JUNE 2022 - An interesting statement from The Mac Observer: Based on new numbers from Strategy Analytics, TMO says HomePod mini was the single best-selling smart speaker for the first-quarter of 2022. Worth noting though, that does not mean that Apple was the top seller of smart speakers. Far from it. Running down the top-three smart speaker sellers:
Amazon was first with unit sales of 9.9-million
Google was second with unit sales of 6.1-million
Apple was third with unit sales of 4.5-million
So how was HomePod mini on top? Because it’s the only smart speaker Apple sells. The numbers for Google and Amazon combine all of the different models they sell to Apple’s one and only.
Another way that Apple and HomePod mini stand out is in terms of growth. Doing the top-three again:
Amazon’s smart speaker sales grew 1.5% year-on-year
Google’s grew 6.6%
Apple’s grew a crazy big 29.9%
Everyone else sank, according to Strategy Analytics, as did the segment as a whole. Overall, smart speaker sales were down 4.5%. Why? War! Well that and COVID and supply constraints. According to Strategy Analytics:
Russia's war against Ukraine, ongoing and intensifying shortage of semiconductors and other components became crippling concerns for many vendors especially the smart display-heavy trio of Chinese companies Alibaba, Baidu, and Xiaomi, which also continued to deal with unprecedented resurgences of COVID-19 that shut down daily life for many Chinese.
The firm thinks something of a reset is in order. Jack Narcotta, Principal Industry Analyst, Smart Home, Smart Speakers, and Smart Displays says the firm notes two factors to watch. “First,” he says:
…in the US market, smart speaker and smart display penetration rates are approaching a state of market saturation, and the market is shifting from new customer acquisition to add-on or replacement sales which historically have longer sales cycles. Second, in China, slowing the surge in COVID-19 will take time, and compounded with the ongoing component shortage, economic recovery will be hampered until at least mid-2023.
New HomePod Hiding in iOS 16 Beta?
Daunting as the segment may sound, Apple may have a new HomePod for add-on or replacements sales waiting in the wings. A piece from 9 to 5 Mac says code-monkeys have found references to an unreleased and unannounced HomePod in this week’s iOS 16 beta. According to the piece, the secret-hideout HomePod “is labeled internally as ‘AudioAccessory6,’ while HomePod mini is ‘AudioAccessory5’ and the original HomePod is ‘AudioAccessory1.’”
Worth pointing out, as 9 to 5 Mac does, the dynamic duo of Gurman and Kuo have both talked about new HomePods on the horizon. While Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has said that Apple is playing with a few possibilities, TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that a new HomePod is on the way to consumers, with a release date set for late 2022 or early 2023.
