New Survey Predicts Apple HomePod Disaster, $349 Price Too Expensive

When Apple announced the HomePod, its version of a smart speaker to compete with the Google Home and Amazon Echo, the company said that its high sound quality would help it cut into the market that the competing products already dominate. Unfortunately, a new survey indicates that this is not exactly the case. Participants who expressed interest in the HomePod even admitted that they would not get one for themselves.

The survey comes via Morning Consult, which conducted a poll involving 2,200 participants between June 8 and 12. It was meant to determine which feature is most important to customers when it comes to smart home products. As much as 30 percent of the responders said that price is what matters most when they are making a decision to buy.

“When asked separately about which factors matter, features become more important, but nothing topped price: Seventy-nine percent of people said the cost was important when considering purchasing a smart device, versus 63 percent who said the same for brand,” the report reads. “Other key factors included speaker and audio quality, compatibility with other devices, and accuracy of voice recognition.”

With price being a particularly relevant factor in the minds of potential consumers, Apple is in a heap of trouble thanks to how expensive the HomePod is compared to the Echo and the Home, Venture Beat reports. The product is meant to launch with a price tag of $349, a good $200 more than Amazon’s smart assistant hardware.

The best chance that Apple has of not having a complete disaster on its hands when its smart speaker finally comes out is to lean heavily on brand familiarity. Siri is the most well-known smart assistant in the US, which makes it the option that most American consumers identify with. If the iPhone maker can successfully make an unbreakable connection between Siri and the HomePod, it could make a world of difference.