HomePod Launches in Japan and Taiwan [Updated]

Update: On schedule, the HomePod has now launched in Japan and Taiwan.

Original story follows.



Apple's ‌HomePod‌ is set to launch in Japan and Taiwan next week, on Friday, August 23, Apple announced today. Ahead of the launch, Apple is accepting pre-orders through its online stores in Japan and Taiwan.

homepodjapan
The ‌HomePod‌ is available for ¥32,800 in Japan and NT$9,900 in Taiwan, which is $10 to $15 higher than the price in the U.S. When the ‌HomePod‌ first launched in the United States in 2018, it was priced at $349, but the price was lowered to $299 in April of this year.

Apple announced plans to expand the ‌HomePod‌ to Japan and Taiwan earlier this summer, and added support for the new countries in the 12.4 software made available for the ‌HomePod‌ in late July.

Apple now sells the ‌HomePod‌ in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, China, and Hong Kong, along with Taiwan and Japan.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

citysnaps Avatar
70 months ago
Does anyone use this thing really?
Roughly 3-4 hours a day. Every day. For the past year and a half.

Why?
[doublepost=1565934278][/doublepost]
I've got one and honestly I don't use it much. If it had built-in Spotify/Bluetooth, or if Siri actually worked—it'd be useful.
Siri actually works. Maybe a trip to the genius bar is in order?
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Santabean2000 Avatar
70 months ago
Why is this thing not available everywhere already? It's not like Siri actually works anyway...
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
70 months ago
This is certainly not a product Apple is giving up on. Expanding reach, frequent updates with new features, integration with Siri Shortcuts that continually give it new capabilities, an accumulating user base.

Apple isn’t giving up on HomePod anymore than they gave up on the AppleTV when it was a niche product. It was a foundation on which Apple is building on through software updates.

It’s still only a little over year old and has already received 3 major updates. If anything, they’re dedicated to it.

Eventually, the critics will end up in the same place as those who said the Apple Watch was a failure. Curiously, you never hear from those people again.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darth-Kylie Avatar
70 months ago
Roughly 3-4 hours a day. Every day. For the past year and a half.

Why?
[doublepost=1565934278][/doublepost]

Siri actually works. Maybe a trip to the genius bar is in order?
Seconded. I have a stereo pair in one room and a single unit in a bedroom, which I used to stream music from Apple Music or from iOS and to query and control HomeKit accessories both within and outwith my home. Sounds great. Works great.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
calstanford Avatar
70 months ago
Does anyone use this thing really?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThatGuyInLa Avatar
70 months ago
To all those countries, my deepest apologies.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)