Apple announced its second generation HomePod speaker on Wednesday, almost two years after it discontinued its first smart speaker, the HomePod.
The HomePod is available to order from the Apple Store starting Wednesday, with availability beginning Friday, Feb. 3.
Apple has been rumored to be working on a speaker dubbed the “HomePod 2” since at least June 2022.
Apple has only released three other speakers in the last 20 years — the original iPod Hi-Fi, the $350 Apple HomePod and the $99 HomePod mini. While the Hi-Fi only lasted a year back in 2006-7, the HomePod lasted four before it was discontinued in 2021.
The current HomePod mini is price competitive with Google’s larger Nest Audio, though it is undercut by the $49 Google Nest Mini and most Amazon Echo models.
Apple’s digital assistant Siri may be dominant in the mobile space but the company has struggled to translate this success to smart speakers. In terms of smart speakers it is Amazon’s Echo series and Google Nest speakers which jostle each other for first and second place.
