From PC Mag: If you're in the market for a new smart speaker, then Apple just made the HomePod a little more enticing by dropping the official price down to $299.
Apple launched the HomePod smart speaker back in Feb. 2018 with a retail price of $349, which makes it significantly more expensive than most other smart speakers. That includes Google Home and Amazon's Echo Plus or Echo Show. However, as 9To5Mac reports, today the HomePod price was reduced by 15 percent.
It seems the price reduction is across all of Apple's major markets, not just the US, and clearly looks like a bid to boost sales. When PCMag reviewed the HomePod last year we found it to offer a very high-quality experience when it came to listening to music, but that it trailed behind both Amazon and Google in terms of voice control.
This price cut won't worry Amazon as even the Echo Plus only costs $150, while Google's Home smart speaker is $129. The Google Home Max is $399, but can be found for a HomePod-matching $299. Sonos will clearly take notice and monitor how this impacts sales as it does compete at the top end of the market and therefore with Apple.
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