One-third US adults interested in Apple HomePod

One third of the 2,200 surveyed adults in US are interested in HomePod, but more of them are likely to buy Amazon Echo or Google Home smartspeakers, a survey research company revealed.

According to a survey by Morning Consult cited by Apple Insider on Wednesday, among people who already owned Apple products, pre-comparison interest was 45 per cent, slipping to 40 per cent afterward after they were shown other smartspeakers of Amazon and Google.

"Within the overall survey group 17 per cent said they were mostly like to buy an Echo, and 11 per cent the cheaper Echo Dot. Only 9 per cent said they would go for a HomePod, below the Google Home's 11 per cent," the report said.

It was observed that price was the main concern among shoppers, since 57 per cent picked it as "very important" in a smartspeaker.

"The HomePod will cost $349 when it launches in December -- by contrast, an Echo is currently $139.99, and an Echo Dot only $39.99, though the latter is meant to be hooked up to an external speaker," the report noted.

Speculations are high about the HomePod, as to how well it will work with third-party streaming services.

Currently, it only appears to support Apple Music -- something that is missing from the Amazon Echo and Google Home.

However, Echo and Google Home offer a choice of services such as Spotify, Pandora, and TuneIn.

--IANS

qd/ruwa/