Apple’s Smart Speaker Business Is Finally Getting Off the Ground

• Apple finally appears to be getting headway in the new product area, thanks to the release of a lower-priced smart speaker late last year.
• Year over year, the company’s market share of quarterly smart speaker shipments nearly quadrupled.
• Apple has recently begun offering the HomePod small in three new colors.

Given how quickly Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) became a key player in the headphone industry after releasing its initial AirPods in late 2016, investors were likely hoping for a similar swift success when the tech giant joined the fast-growing smart speaker sector in 2018. The company’s smart speaker devices, on the other hand, haven’t been as warmly welcomed.

Fortunately, however, Apple finally seems to be gaining some meaningful traction in the market — enough for investors to start thinking about how the product line could potentially morph into a meaningful growth driver for the company.

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Market share gains

Apple has been gaining a lot of market share this year, according to new statistics from market research firm Strategy Analytics. While the global smart speaker and smart display market rose by 10% year over year in the third quarter of 2021, Apple’s smart speaker shipments soared by 92 percent.

Apple’s quarterly shipment share increased from 5.9% in the third quarter of 2020 to an expected 10.2 percent in the third quarter of 2021, thanks to this rise in shipments.

The recent arrival of Apple’s cheaper HomePod tiny device, of course, fueled the spike in sales of Apple’s smart speakers. The speaker was introduced in late 2020, providing the corporation with a low-cost smart speaker product in the third calendar quarter of 2021 that it lacked the previous year.

The holiday quarter could be big for Apple, too

Apple’s smart speaker sales could be big in Q4, too.

Capitalizing on the success of its HomePod mini, Apple started shipping the $99 device in three new colors (orange, yellow, and blue) in November. 

Also potentially helping sales of Apple’s smart speakers, the new product makes a great Christmas gift. While it’s more expensive than a lot of competitors’ smart speakers, it’s a low price for an Apple product. In addition, the device comes with a six-month subscription to Apple Music, making the product a better deal than it seems on the surface.

While supply shortages this holiday season will likely weigh on HomePod sales to some extent, the white, orange, yellow, and space gray versions of the HomePod mini are all notably currently available on the company’s website to ship before Christmas.

With a strong third quarter in the books for its smart speaker business and a likely robust Q4, Apple’s smart speaker products could finally start gaining enough traction to morph into a powerful catalyst for the tech company.