HomePod: Market Analysis, R&D, Innovation, and Demand Forecast Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Apple HomePod, Apple's smart speaker designed to compete with products like Google Home and Amazon Echo. The report begins with a description of the HomePod, highlighting its features such as six microphones, a four-inch woofer, and seven tweeters, as well as its integration with Apple's Siri. It then explores the importance of research and development, including lead users and market research, noting the HomePod's market share compared to competitors. The report also discusses the organizational structure and culture within Apple that supports innovation. Furthermore, it examines future innovations inspired by the product, such as the upgrade to iOS 12, which will introduce features like 'Hey Siri Call' and lyric search. Finally, the report includes a five-year product demand prediction based on analyst assessments and predicted innovations, along with the potential impact of competition from other companies. The report includes references to support the analysis.

Apple HomePod

Description of HomePod
HomePod is a smart speaker developed by Apple Company to compete
with similar gadgets such as the Google Home and Amazon Echo.
 Apple’s HomePod packs six microphones, a four-inch woofer and seven
tweeters into a small form factor.
Its ability to access Apple's Siri in order to answer questions and respond to
voice commands makes HomePod different from a standard home audio
speaker.

Description of the importance of R&D to include lead
users and market research
In line with investigator Loup Ventures,
which studied 520 American customers;
since the launch of HomePod on 9th
February, 2018, HomePod has acquired
nearly 3% market share in America.
HomePod is still far behind other smart
speakers such as Amazon’s Echo, that
is leading in the market with
approximately 55%share. Google Home
speaker occupies the second position
with about 23% market share
(Reisinger, 2018).Figure 1:HomePod

Discussion of appropriate structure and culture within the
company necessary to support innovative ideas and
products
Apple Company organizational
structure can be said to be
hierarchical in nature.
Such a structure has been
developed to ascertain focused grasp
of the firm’s inventive ideas and clear
vision for the entire business
(Dudovskiy, 2018).
This structure also encourages
decentralization of Company’s
decision- making to a particular level
in order to promote creativity and
novelty at different echelons.
Figure 2: Apple Organization structure

Exploration of future inventions inspired by the product or analysis of future
innovations of this product (Was this
a successful invention leading to innovation?)
An upgrade of HomePod OS to iOS 12 will inspire development of other
future innovations. Such as:
Hey Siri Call: Siri on HomePod shall allow the user to make and take calls,
search his/her call history, and dial specific contact numbers (Evans, 2018).
Lyric search: Users will be able to search for songs based on what they can
recall concerning song lyrics.
Food Tips: Siri in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave developments shall obtain
knowledge regarding nutrition and food.
Multiple Timers: HomePod will also let users to set multiple timers
Find my Phone: Users will be able to trace their phones using HomePod
Support for multiple networks: provided that the user has an iOS gadget
linked to the network, HomePod shall be able to connect any network.

Five Years Product Demand Prediction
YEAR 2019 YEAR 2020 YEAR 2021 YEAR 2022 YEAR 2023
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
HOMEPOD DEMAND PREDICTIONS (M)
DEMAND PREDICTIONS (M)
According to analysts, demand for HomePod is predicted to increase sharply in the
next five years but remain almost steady thereafter. Their assessments were
grounded significantly on the aforementioned innovations which the product is
forecasted to come along with such as Lyric search and Hey Siri Call. These
incentives will attract more buyers in the foreseeable future but due to the stiff
competition originating from other companies like Amazon and Google, their motives
to consume these products is predicted to minimize or remain constant.

References
Dudovskiy, J. (2018, January 12). Apple Organizational Structure – A Hierarchical Structure that May Change in Near Future. Retrieved
December 22, 2018, from Research Methodology : https://research-methodology.net/apple-organizational-structure-a-
hierarchical-structure-that-may-change-in-near-future/
Evans, J. (2018, July 23). 6 cool Apple HomePod improvements coming this fall. Retrieved December 22, 2018, from Apple Must:
http://www.applemust.com/6-cool-apple-homepod-improvements-coming-this-fall/
Reisinger, D. (2018, February 22). Apple HomePod Has Already Stolen Some Market Share From Amazon's Echo. Retrieved December 22,
2018, from FORTUNE: http://fortune.com/2018/02/22/apple-homepod-amazon-echo-market-share/