HomePod sales were up 180% year-over-year during the second quarter of 2021. The figures appear to indicates the validity of Apple’s decision to discontinue the sales of its full-sized HomePod to concentrate on its $99 HomePod mini.
However, Market intelligence company Omdia suggests Apple may need to launch a new version of the smart speaker to maintain this momentum.
Omdia’s smart speakers market tracker says HomePod sales increased from under a million in Q2 2020 to nearly 2.5 million in the same quarter this year. That figure was good enough for Apple to snag third-place with a 24.6% market share.
Apple’s market share of US smart speakers has increased from 9.6% in 1H20 to 21% in 1H21, a YoY shipment increase of about 245%. Amazon took first place, with 33.6% of the market, while google grabbed second place with a 41,8% share.
Omdia says discontinuing the original HomePod likely helped Apple increase its shipping numbers.
The discontinuation of the original HomePod may have contributed to the spike in growth, as Apple enthusiasts rushed to buy the remaining stock.
Apple’s performance is particularly impressive since smart speaker sales actually slowed during the quarter.
Smart speaker shipments slowed in the US during the second quarter (2Q21), with year-on-year (YoY) growth of just 16%, while quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) shipments declined by 27%
[…]
Most of the slowdown can be attributed to the Amazon Alexa platform (including own branded and 3rd party branded speakers), which saw a decline of 31% QoQ for smart speaker shipments in the US. In fact, Google’s smart speakers claimed the number one spot, beating out Amazon during the quarter by about 800,000 shipments.
Omdia sees more future improvement in HomePod sales for Apple but warns that a new product may be needed to continue growth.
… to maintain the momentum, Apple will need to release another speaker: a portable speaker or speaker with a display, for example, could push Apple to new levels.
(Via 9to5Mac)
