Apple has just received FCC approval for their HomePod, suggesting the product launch is closer than we thought. Apple promised the product would be launched in ‘early 2018’, and now they have finally obtained approval Apple is free to begin selling the device at any time.
Apple failed to meet their original release date of December 2018 and looking at their previous record, early 2018 could have been anywhere between January and April. However, now they have approval, we could see the smart speaker a lot sooner than we thought and now Apple can begin competing with Google Home and Amazon’s Echo.
The smart speaker needed to clear the FCC because it is wireless. All communications technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi must be submitted to the United States Federal Communications Commission and must be approved before they can be sold in the United States.
Apple received FCC approval for the iPhone X on October 4 and released the product across the United States on November 3. This means it is possible the smart speaker will be released in a month. Rumors suggest Apple could sell around 1 million of their smart speakers. On Wednesday, The Taipei Times claimed Apple supplier Inventec is began shipping the first million HomePods to Apple.
Do you think Apple’s new smart speaker will be able to compete with the success of Google Home and Amazon’s Echo?
