Apple working on combined TV set-box, HomePod speaker
Apple Inc. has been a laggard in the smart-home space, but a versatile new device in early development could change that.
The company is working on a product that would combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing through a connected TV and other smart-home functions, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
The device’s other capabilities would include standard Apple TV box functions like watching video and gaming plus smart speaker uses such as playing music and using Apple’s Siri digital assistant. If launched, it would represent Apple’s most ambitious smarthome hardware offering to date.
The Cupertino, Californiabased technology giant is also mulling the launch of a highend speaker with a touch screen to better compete with market leaders Google and Amazon.com Inc., the people said. Such a device would combine an iPad with a HomePod speaker and also include a camera for video chat. Apple has explored connecting the iPad to the speaker with a robotic arm that can move to follow a user around a room, similar to Amazon’s latest Echo Show gadget.
Development of both Apple products is still in the early stages, and the company could decide to launch neither or change key features. The company often works on new concepts and devices without ultimately shipping them.
The new offerings may help revive Apple’s fortunes in the smart-home category. The company held 2% of the TV streaming device market in 2020, according to Strategy Analytics, while the HomePod has had less than 10% of the smart speaker market for most of its existence.
In March, Apple discontinued its high- end HomePod, while the Apple TV box hasn’t been updated for more than three years. Last year, the company launched the HomePod mini, which has fared better due to its lower price.
Apple combined its HomePod and Apple TV engineering groups in 2020 and unified the underlying software that runs on both devices. That was an early hint that Apple may integrate the hardware lines.
A combined speaker and TV box isn’t a product category that Google and Amazon have addressed yet, though Facebook Inc. sells a Portal video chat device that uses a TV as its display.