Apple Removes References to Original HomePod From Website, Months After Discontinuation

This article has been indexed from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors – Front Page

Apple has removed all references to the original, full-sized HomePod from its website, months after officially discontinuing the smart speaker that struggled to reach mainstream adoption.

The removal of references to the original ‌HomePod‌ came as a result of brand new changes to Apple’s website. With the new changes, Apple now only highlights the HomePod mini, which now comes in brand new colors.

Apple announced ‌HomePod‌ in 2018 as its first major home-centric product, focused around delivering high-quality audio combined with the integration into services, such as Apple Music and Siri.

Priced at $349 at launch and eventually decreased to $299, Apple struggled to market the ‌HomePod‌ in a way appealing to the masses, yielding lower sales than the company was likely aiming for. Additionally, ‌Siri‌, which powers the ‌HomePod‌ experience, continues to grapple with catching up to the capabilities of Google’s smart assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.

Apple followed up the full-sized ‌HomePod‌ with the ‌HomePod mini‌ last year, and today added new colors for the smaller speaker. The ‌HomePod mini‌ features a significantly smaller design than the original ‌HomePod‌, but continues to feature the same ‌Siri‌ experience, powered by ‌Apple Music‌ and third-party services. Unlike the original ‌HomePod‌ selling for $299, the ‌HomePod mini‌ is priced at $99. The ‌HomePod mini‌ recently became available in more countries, including Austria, Ireland, and New Zealand.