Apple's HomePod needs improvement, and Apple hired a new head of software engineering to help with that process. However, that might not be enough. So far, Apple's smart speaker has not been competitive with the leading manufacturers, Amazon and Google, even after it released a more affordable version of the HomePod, the HomePod mini.
Apple launched its HomePod in 2018, four years after Amazon's Echo and two years following the Google Home speakers. While Apple managed to achieve dominance in the smartwatch market despite launching the Apple Watch much later than competitors, it hasn't fared as well with its smart speaker. This suggests brand loyalty only carries Apple products so far. If a device is seriously lacking in some regard or too late to arrive with a solution, customers will look elsewhere, and they have. As a result, Apple is a distant third to Amazon and Google in smart speakers.
According to a recent the sound quality is excellent, Apple charges more than the competition and needs to do more with the other side of the smart speaker equation, the intelligence. In short, Siri doesn't meet expectations, giving a particularly poor showing when used with a device with no screen, like the HomePod.
Why Isn't The HomePod Smarter?
It is nearly universally agreed that the HomePod is not the smartest of smart speakers. The much newer HomePod mini runs the same software and proves equally inept at relatively simple requests. While Apple handles music playback very well, and even the tiny HomePod mini sounds like a much larger speaker, many questions end with Siri announcing that the results will be sent to the iPhone. As a speaker, the HomePod should tell, not show, the answer, and this seems like a significant flaw.
Google's Nest smart speakers have no problem reading results from the internet and sharing which website contained the answer that is read. Google Assistant can also handle follow-up questions and understand language better than the HomePod without rephrasing to try to get an answer. Alexa also comprehends most questions more easily.
While Apple hasn't revealed what is being worked upon, the new hire comes from Syng, the maker of a super- $1,799 smart speaker that focuses almost entirely on sound quality and the AirPods Pro and Max. That means a new Apple HomePod is probably being developed but don't expect it to be any smarter.
Source: Bloomberg