When a brand new Apple product goes on sale, early adopters tend to aim to hit the Apple Store app and website within the first few minutes to secure delivery on day one. But in the case of the HomePod, it seems this wasn’t necessary …
Some three days after pre-orders opened, Apple is still showing delivery on February 9, the first day it goes on sale. This is true for both online purchases and for random Apple Stores I checked across all three launch countries, with full availability for both color options.
HomePod pre-orders went live on January 26 in the US, UK and Australia (technically Jan 27 given time zone differences) for delivery on February 9. Pre-orders are also available at Best Buy, which also continues to show Feb 9 as the expected shipping and pickup date.
Sonos may have played some small part in things, with a $349 bundle of two Sonos One speakers, and two of the company’s Play:1 speakers for even less.
While new launches tend to get back-ordered very quickly, Apple does seem to have aimed to have decent supply levels here, with a report stating that a million HomePods started shipping before pre-orders opened. With sales limited to just three countries, it may be that Apple has simply been better placed to balance supply and demand.
I’m looking forward to trying mine, to see how well it performs for Siri control of smart home kit, and how the audio quality stacks up for the price.
