Apple’s HomePod could ignite huge Chinese market for smart connected devices

Apple’s new HomePod, a wireless speaker and digital assistant for the home, could ignite a potentially huge market for smart connected devices on the mainland starting next year.

The introduction of the HomePod capped a major day of Apple announcements during the company’s annual worldwide developer conference in the US on Monday.

“Apple will likely be selling millions of these devices in China and around the world,” said Tim Bajarin, president at technology market research firm Creative Strategies in California’s Silicon Valley.

HomePod, priced at US$349 and available in white and gray, will be initially released this December in the US, Britain and Australia before rolling out to other geographic markets next year. It is powered by the same Apple A8 chip used in the latest iPhones.

Bajarin, who attended a demonstration of the product prior to Monday’s announcement, said the company needed to resolve “some technical issues” before the HomePod is mass produced for the global market.

“The HomePod is a powerful home speaker with superior audio capabilities than other high-end speakers now in the market, and has Siri voice control that connects to other devices [based on Apple’s HomeKit framework for home automation],” he said. “With artificial intelligence and machine-learning capability as part of its architecture, the HomePod will only get smarter over time.”