BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Why Apple Slashes Price Of HomePod, Now $100 Off At B&H Photo And Target

Following
This article is more than 5 years old.

Getty

Following an agreement, earlier this month, with Amazon to make the Apple Music service available on Amazon Alexa smart speakers, the Cupertino-based company is now heavily discounting its own high-end smart speaker, just a little over 10 months since its launch.

Since Monday, the HomePod, which normally costs $349, is back to its Black Friday price at electronic retailers B&H Photo and Video and Target—a whopping $100 discount, or nearly 30% off its regular price—whereas Best Buy and Costco were offering a $75 and $50 discount, respectively.

Surprisingly, neither Walmart nor Fry's, a local but large electronics retailer chain here in Silicon Valley that usually matches its competitors' prices including Amazon's, offered any discount on Apple's smart speaker.

To make sure that this promotion was real and not a hoax, we decided to order a HomePod at the heavily discounted price, despite already having one in the office along with many other smart speakers that we use for testing.

But hey, worst case scenario, after trying out the HomePod multi-room and stereo pairing options with AirPlay 2, we could sell it back on Craigslist or eBay and make someone happy this holiday season with a HomePod at more than 30% off (more on that later).

Atherton Research

We chose to order our HomePod from New York City-based retailer B&H which offers free shipping and doesn't charge a sales tax for all orders outside of the state of New York, while in San Jose, California, where one of our offices is located the combined sales tax rate is 9.25%.

So if you buy a HomePod here, in Apple's backyard, it will normally cost you $381.28. At just $249, and delivered to our doorstep in Silicon Valley, the discounted HomePod—which actually ships from Florence, New Jersey—ends up being more than $130 off (all taxes included) or more than 30% off than if we went to the local Apple Store in San Jose. Unfortunately, this review also leaves a terrible carbon footprint that price alone can't offset.

I will update this article upon receiving the HomePod from B&H.

Atherton Research's Take

Amid a ban of its iPhones in China, a trade war between the U.S. and China that risks to significantly increase the cost of Apple hardware products in this country, and fierce competition from Amazon and Google in the smart speaker market, Apple is left with little other option but to offer steep discounts to make the HomePod more competitive and spur sales during the holiday season.

We estimate that with this latest holiday push, Apple will sell over 3 million HomePods this year (2018) while Amazon and Google will surpass 20 million units.

Also, despite rumors, we don't expect Apple to introduce a cheaper version of its smart speaker (a HomePod mini) in the coming months, but rather use discounts—as it does now—to drive sales of the current model.

As mentioned earlier, Apple Music is coming to Amazon Alexa speakers including to the very affordable second-generation Echo Plus speaker ($119 with a Philips Hue light bulb)—which also acts as a smart home hub (Zigbee) controlling smart lights, locks, plugs, sensors and more.

Apple Music is also available on the more upscale Sonos One ($179) that has Alexa built-in, but you would need to use the Sonos app to stream the music service to the smart speaker.

At $249, the Apple Homepod is now $100 cheaper than the Google Home Max, which is currently on sale at $349, down $50 from its regular price ($399).

Although Apple is not discounting the HomePod on its own website or at the physical Apple Stores, the Cupertino-based technology giant is well aware of the discounts offered by its retail partners which could not have done it without its consent.

Follow me on LinkedInCheck out my website