back to article Aww: Apple won't be HomePod for Christmas

Apple will fail to deliver its HomePod internet-connected speakers in time for the Christmas shopping season. The Cupertino idiot-tax racket handed out statements to friendly journos on Friday admitting that fans will have to wait until some time next year to get their hands on the gizmo. "We need a little more time before it …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's a big screw up

    Missing the holiday shopping season just as these sorts of devices are gaining popularity. Unless it has some unannounced capabilities I can't see how they couldn't have it ready since as far as the announced capabilities neither the hardware or the software is anything Apple hasn't done before.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's a big screw up

      Maybe they're worried Samsung are developing something similar in size and shape and want to make sure theirs is different enough in appearance...

      But seriously, perhaps there is just a shortage of parts. Since Amazon, Google and Apple are all customers of Foxconn...

      In any event, Apple will do what they always do. Release their product years after everybody else and claim they invented the technology...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's a big screw up

        Quick someone rush one of these things to market with sharp pointy corners!

      2. jacksmith21006

        Re: That's a big screw up

        Doubt there is a shortage of parts. I suspect the issue is how it would compare to the Google Home in reviews. Siri is just not very smart. But then so many additional features have been added to the Google Home over the last year.

        The thing is Apple needs to get it to market and then can enhance it. I know this is very 180 from Apple's normal MO. But the problem is AI is very unusual in that it improves over time. AI products completely change dynamics as it is the only technology I am aware of that gets better over time instead of deteriorating.

    2. big_D Silver badge

      Re: That's a big screw up

      If they wanted it to appear when these devices gained popularity, they should have at least hit the holiday season last year!

      Microsoft have been berated for being too late to the party already, with a preview in January and a product launch (Harmon Kardon) in October.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's a big screw up

      Missing the holiday shopping season just as these sorts of devices are gaining popularity.

      I suspect the only people regretting it will be shareholders, considering the time value of money. In terms of potential sales, I suspect it doesn't matter, because most Apple customers will happily wait, if need be another full year, rather than betray the faith. There are considerable advantages to having a customer base which has fanatical loyalty.

      1. john fisher 1

        Re: That's a big screw up

        As Trump exploits so well

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's a big screw up

      Apple is a supply chain/procurement company with internal fashion/design specialities and exceptional marketing.

      For the speaker, there is actually one component they are short of. All the hw/sw components can be secured from the market save for one, and they can't procure this one in time - the voice assistant.

      Siri is shit and at the bottom compared to the others and probably only better than bixby. Their strategy has always been to watch other companies and come in with a better product experience using market components that have matured to allow for this.

      Their in-house r&d initiatives have always been lacking in innovation. the SW is largely to maximise margins and control over customisation/optimisation and curate the walled garden. T

      Credit where due - they do old school stuff like os, apps etc ok. Their SW that works doesn't do anything new ("innovative") just old school well. They never master or lead for stuff needing intelligence and new algorithms (not in a computer science textbook).

      And their marketing team is absolutely excellent - they create so much emotional capital in individuals from so afar and diffuse objectivity extraordinarily well. What Apple does here never ceases to amaze me. (FaceId is a step backwards but look at the press)

      But probably this time, Siri is that pig that no lipstick from even Apple marketing can save. They need time to cook that up and it's early 2018 before they can sauce it up enough.

      I'd be happy to be enlightened - any R&D initiative, within Apple, that is redefining in terms of engineering innovation (not design innovations like smaller, thinner, lighter, "magical").

      1. Naselus

        Re: That's a big screw up

        As others have said, Siri just isn't up to the task, with a 20% question recognition rate and a 60% correct answer rate. She's much weaker than Google (70% rec, 90% acc), Amazon (20% rec, 90% acc) and Microsoft's (60% rec, 80% acc) voice assistants and is falling further behind every year. Siri is just about capable of giving directions, and not much else.

        The problem is, while a smartphone can point to other features to make up for Siri being an idiot, a Home Assistant can't. She won't have much to hide behind, and sticking a middling bluetooth speaker to her (one that costs twice as much as a decent sound bar and will have half the fidelity) doesn't really justify a home assistant that can only answer 1 in 5 questions, and then gets nearly half of those answers wrong.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good product

    Runs Apple Music. HQ speaker. Dynamic acoustics. Looks dank. Voice control.

    I’m sure it will not only sell well. It will also be profitable -unlike most things that Samsung and Amazon do.

    1. Warm Braw

      Re: Good product

      Looks dank

      I had to look that up on Urban Dictionary. I suppose that in itself is a sign I'm outside their target market.

      I'm hanging on to a wind-up gramophone against the day it's impossible to get a music player that doesn't listen back.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

        Re: Good product

        Looks dank

        This means it looks disgusting and I agree.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good product

      HQ speaker. Dynamic acoustics.

      Yeah. I won't be swapping my electrostatics for this POS. I've no doubt it will sound substantially better than the cost-first junk from Google and Amazon. But for anybody who really enjoys music, I don't think this complicated little bag of speakers and electronics is going to re-define the term "high fidelity".

      If you're in need of high quality sound but short on space, then buy yourself something akin to a pair of LS3.5As. If you're a hipster fully enrolled in the Apple Hipster Exploitation Programme, that option may not be available.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good product

      Amazon are very profitable.

      ...unless you're the taxman....in which case they run at a loss. Honest, guv.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Did they say they were siri for not getting it out?

  4. jacksmith21006

    Purchased the Echo in late 2014 when it first came out. We now have several Google Homes. The two are often compared but they are actually very different. The Echo requires rigid language to get it to do things. Something close to commands with some variance. The Google Home you just talk to it naturally for most things.

    I was super motivated to memorize the Echo commands when we purchased and used it. But it remained "my toy" my family's language. As I type this I can hear my daughter in the kitchen listening to music on the Google Home which is where the Echo also resides.

    In the end there is only two mobile platforms, Android (Google) and iOS (Apple). Ultimately we will have one assistant and not different ones on our phones and then in our home. So think Apple delay is going to help Google a lot more than Amazon, IMO. A perfect example is driving home last night needing a very quick turn around with my family to leave for something that was going to be tight. I just say into my phone "hey google broadcast here" and it plays throughout our house on the Google Home speakers and we had a record turn around with them on the front porch ;).

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      hey google broadcast here

      Or you could've just telephoned then. Less googly but equally effective.

  5. IGnatius T Foobar
    FAIL

    Apple FAIL

    Seriously, why didn't Apple get something like this into the market two years ago? Steve Jobs would have been on the job right away, and probably would have given it some "wow" features. Instead we get a boring, overpriced, "meee tooo" product from The Company Formerly Known As Apple.

    Ho-hum, you're-dumb. Pass on this one.

    1. katrinab Silver badge

      Re: Apple FAIL

      Other than the iPad, which was in any case a giant sized iPod Touch, Apple have never been first to market with anything. Their strategy is to let other companies make the mistakes first.

    2. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Apple FAIL

      would have given it some "wow" features

      Dog noises? Sounds like a good idea.

  6. Captain DaFt

    Hmm, maybe...

    It was a little too fashionable?

    "Oh, NO! You did not just put me on this tacky table and expect me function, did you?"

    "And just who was you decorator? The local skip!?"

    "Darling, you're adorable with your kitsch chic, but A� just can't work in conditions like this! *click*"

    Cook: "OK marketing, I see what the mean. We'll just have to postpone release until we can get someone besides Jony to train it."

  7. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    I COULD TYPE, BUT I LIKE YELLING AT DEVICES

    Another terrible sounding wireless speaker with a more-creepy-than-useful digital assistant that will soon stop working when it's required "cloud" tethering is terminated. Do I have to awkwardly pretend that I enjoy using this amazing premium product or can I have it delivered directly to the landfill?

  8. dol

    So many crappy answers in search of a question

    Maybe I am just a grumpy old git. But a lot of the current tech in this particular space seems to be a very crappy answer in search of a question none of us really asked. I mean I have been known to shout at the odd recalcitrant server, but I am not sure I am ready for them to start answering me back.

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Re: So many crappy answers in search of a question

      Maybe I am just a grumpy old git

      Yes you probably are. So what eh? I'm one as well (if there is room in the church for two 'old gits'?)

      The adverts and especially the amazon ones make these things all sound so helpful especially if you have sold your soul to Google and expecially Amazon (and maybe Apple in the future).

      Alexa is there to sell you Amazon services not help you in your daily life.

      The Google thing is there to collect information about you, pass it to Google so that they can sell it.

      What is there left for the Apple thingy?

      As they (well they say they don't) sell your data to anyone and that Siri does most of its work locally it can't fit into either of the Amazon or Google camps. Sort of like 'billy no-mates'.

      Could this be the reason why it is delayed? Could they come up with a compelling reason to make people ditch Alexa? Somehow I doubt it hence my agreeing with you that this if you take away the Amazon/Google reasons for putting out a device like this then these things are an answer to a question that has not been asked yet.

      All I do know is that none of them will ever find a place in my home.

      The TLA's will need to find another method to spy on me

      1. abedarts

        Re: So many crappy answers in search of a question

        'Could they come up with a compelling reason to make people ditch Alexa? Somehow I doubt it'

        I'd have agreed with you until I bought an Echo Dot, used it for a week and sent it back. It just seemed so much harder to do things by shouting compared to typing or even speaking into my smartphone. You have to discover the correct expression for what you want to do (Google search needed first) and then say it a few times and maybe it will work, but by then you've given up the will to live.

        Somehow I expected more and maybe Google Home would suit me better, but for now at least - I ditched Alexa.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Friendly Journos

    "The Cupertino idiot-tax racket handed out statements to friendly journos on Friday" ....... makes you wonder how El Reg found out about it ;-)

  10. Stuart Elliott

    "The Cupertino idiot-tax racket"

    ... and I stopped reading.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "The Cupertino idiot-tax racket"

      The joke's on you.

    2. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: ... and I stopped reading

      .... And rushed to post. Sucker!!

  11. Jurassic
    Happy

    The delay of Apple’s HomePod may have nothing to do with Apple’s ability to deliver new products on time (to meet Apple's own arbitrary deadline for release). In fact, it is probable that the announced delay may have nothing at all to do with Apple.

    The phenomenal demand for some of Apple’s recently released products, including the Apple Watch 3, iPhone X, and iPhone 8 Plus, has taken Apple (and everyone else) by surprise. Apple’s suppliers have been put into “overdrive” trying to churn out these products, as well as Apple’s other products like iPads and MacBooks that have been increasing in popularity (as evidenced by the recent quarterly report). And with the iMac Pro, another major new product, to be released in December adding to suppliers’ loads, it is highly probable that those assemblers have reached a limit in production capacity, even with the hiring of additional seasonal workers.

    The most likely reason why Apple has had to delay the launch of the HomePod is that Apple had to prioritize its suppliers’ production load. The HomePod (rather than the iMac Pro) was the most likely candidate to delay in order to not unnecessarily slow down production and delivery of Apple’s other important products.

    Apple’s suppliers have a finite capacity for assembling and delivering Apple products, and no contingency plan can overcome those limitations. If for example, we take just one Apple product, the iPhone X, and realize that the silicon fabricators, parts manufacturers, shipping and delivery, and assemblers are currently producing millions of units of that one product every week, it is easy to imagine just how challenging it is for Apple to meet demand for all of its products simultaneously.

    I think that it is highly probable that Apple has already completed all of the R&D requirements for the HomePod hardware and software. The HomePod is likely ready for production right now, but Apple had to make a strategic decision to delay that production in order to better fulfill the timely deliveries of Apple’s other products.

    Apple is in the enviable position of having to delay a new product to allow the expeditious delivery of Apple’s more crucial, and more sought-after products.

  12. Grease Monkey Silver badge

    "reinvent music in our homes”

    When other companies got to market first with products that actually worked. Obviously a definition of the word reinvent of which I was heretofore unaware. Except of course the Apple faithful will believe this shite. I can't recall the last time Apple released something innovative, but the fanbois and goirls believe all things Apple are innovative because they get their information direct from Apple. And as for Apple making a better quality product than the competition, maybe once they did, but not for a long time.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yet another Pre-Announced Product !

    Pre-Announced products are sadly the norm.

    Make an announcement & put buyers off buying a competitive product.

    Sometimes it works but not this time.

    Often it takes months or years from announcement to general availability.

    Acer, Apple & Samsung should hang their heads in shame !

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They can delay it all they like...

    Because I won't be getting one.

    1. eggely

      Re: They can delay it all they like...

      Your loss.... use the Sonos play one and your kitchen life just got a lot more interesting.... did you really think Amazon would get the mics right?

  15. The Sprocket
    Facepalm

    No . . . this thing won't satisfy or replace the audiophile system. It's just a glorified kitchen radio.

    Disturbing to me, though, is although one can call upon it to provide answers via voice rec (+/-), I can't help wonder how much of the time it is listening in to conversations? We all know information is money.

    Off to the cellar to make my new and improved tin-foil hat. (LOL!)

  16. jjswew

    Maybe I will buy one for Apple Music

    Can't help buying one for listening to my Apple Music. For it sounds like Apple Music on HomePod is not bad.

    http://www.tunefab.com/apple-music/play-apple-music-via-homepod.html

  17. fillysun

    As for the Apple Music on Homepod, you could try it out for listening your Apple Music files. By the way, you could see the detailed guide from DRmare Best Audio Converter Mac.

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