Apple has delayed the HomePod Siri-powered speaker release from Dec to early 2018. in a statement, the company said it required a “little more time” before the device was ready for its initial release in Australia, the united kingdom and also the US. it is not yet clear how this will affect releases in other countries (asked the company if it can elaborate), but we would not be surprised if it pushed back their releases slightly also. They were already being asked to wait until early 2018.
You can read the full statement below.
While the exact reasons for the delay are not clear, it isn’t completely stunning. this can be Apple’s 1st entry into the smart speaker realm, and it’s to nail the expertise if it’s going to compete. At the same time, Apple is effectively ceding holiday sales to a wave of recent higher-end speakers like Amazon’s Echo plus, Google’s Home max and also the Sonos One. The HomePod is not necessarily in bother (Amazon and Sonos will only sell fully-featured devices in countries where Alexa works), but it may face a tougher battle than it did beforehand.
Apple delays HomePod until 2018. Statement: “We can’t wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple’s breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers. We’ll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018.”
— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) November 17, 2017
