The Apple HomePod, which was announced earlier this year, has been delayed to 2018. The company announced the device at WWDC 2017, but said the product would start selling from December onwards. However, in a statement to The Verge, Apple has said that it “needs more time” for the HomePod.
“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,” a spokesperson from the company said.
The HomePod is priced at $349 and takes on Amazon’s Echo speakers, the Google Home family and more. The device has a built in four inch sub-woofer, a sever speaker tweeter array and six far field microphones for voice support. At WWDC, Apple touted the audio capabilities of HomePod, though voice support and Siri features are yet to be seen.
In the meanwhile, both Amazon and Google have launched larger versions of their smart speakers, equalling the HomePod, at least on paper. Google announced the Google Home Max recently, while Amazon has been selling the Echo Plus. In fact, Amazon even has partners in companies like Ultimate Ears, who have announced Alexa powered versions of their speakers.
So, that puts Apple behind the competition already. In addition, the company’s voice assistant, Siri, has been behind the Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa as well. Of course, Apple could improve the AI particularly for the HomePod, but based on what we’ve seen on smartphones, Siri has a long way to go before it can take on these other Assistants. Microsoft has also been working on Cortana powered smart speakers with partners.