Best Buy Running $100 Off Deal on Apple HomePod Again
Best Buy was the first retailer we saw offer a discount on Apple HomePods and is doing it again. The $100 off deal was in place for Black Friday but stores quickly ran out of devices. Today, the discount is running again at Best Buy and you can pick up or order a HomePod online for $249.99 instead of the list price of $349.99. The devices are selling today for $349 on Apple.com.
Apple HomePod did not come to market until early 2018, about 15 months after Google Home and more than three years after Amazon Echo. Within a quarter of the February 2018 launch, Apple HomePod accounted for over 4% of the installed base of U.S. smart speaker owners and that rose to 4.5% six months after launch. However, Google and Amazon have benefitted from high sales volume driven by steep discounts in the Q4 holiday shopping season so Apple risks losing share as new smart speaker owners enter the category. Then again, the company only needs to sell about one device for every 25 smart speakers sold by Amazon and Google to maintain its share. Discounts like the one at Best Buy should help drive unit volume.
No Store Visit Required for Apple HomePod Discount
A key difference between the earlier promotion and today’s is that you can also order your HomePod online for delivery. The earlier promotion was clearly designed to drive consumer foot traffic in retail stores on the important Black Friday shopping day. This promotion appears more in line with selling out inventory at a time when consumers are historically looking for bargains. B&H Photo ran a similar promotion for online ordering in mid-December so Apple fans may start thinking that they can get HomePods at a discount if they are willing to wait and move quickly when they become available. However, there is also the chance that these models will become permanently discounted if Apple brings out a new model in 2019.
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