Could Apple release a HomePod with a screen in 2024 and thus catch up with Google and Amazon?
Around this time last year, you might be wondering if you’d buy a new kind of HomePod, a HomePod with a screen. According to well-known Apple analyst and ecosystem specialist Ming-Chi Kuo, the American giant may introduce a new generation of HomePod with a 7-inch panel in the first half of 2024. This screen, made by Chinese supplier Tianma, “may provide better integration with other Apple products.”Which is synonymous with “significant changes to the company’s home automation strategy,”he wrote.
Apple may release HomePod with screen in 2024
This prediction by Ming-Chi Kuo echoes several previous reports, including one by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who claimed that the Cupertino company is developing a kitchen accessory that combines an iPad and a speaker. Last January, Mark Gurman echoed the message that Apple would work well on multiple devices for the connected home to compete with Amazon and Google. One such product would be an inexpensive iPad that allows you to control many connected objects, such as thermostats or light bulbs, and make video calls. It’s hard to tell if it’s the same as the one that will be integrated into the HomePod.
and thus catch up with Google and Amazon?
By releasing a speaker with a smart display, Apple was finally able to offer a direct competitor to the Google Nest Hub and other Amazon Echo Shows. The Apple brand is lagging behind in this segment of home automation devices – its plug-in speaker, for example, came a few years after the Echo. Bloomberg explained in 2017 that this was because Apple executives were having a hard time understanding how such devices could fit into an already existing product ecosystem.
Since Apple is still busy competing in this market, users can currently choose between the HomePod mini and the recent second generation HomePod released last January. This new model certainly has a touch bar on top, but with limited options to simply adjust the volume, play a song, and activate Siri.