Apple will not ship HomePod to first customers until early 2018

Apple has indicated that it will not ship its HomePod until early next year. The company states that it needs a little more time before the smart speaker is ready. The HomePod was unveiled at the last WWDC conference.

The delay in delivering the HomePod was confirmed by Apple in a statement released to various media outlets, including Engadget. The Cupertino company says it needs a little more time for delivery, which is now scheduled for early next year. An exact delivery date, which only applies to the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, was not given.

What this means for the delivery of the smart speaker in other countries is not clear; Apple hasn’t released anything about that. The Cupertino-based company has also said nothing about the exact reason for the delay in delivery. Initially, the plan was to release the HomePod in the UK, US and Australia this year, with other countries to follow next year.

Apple introduced the HomePod speaker at its WWDC developer conference in June. The smart speaker has integration with Siri, among other things. This makes the speaker compete with those of other companies, such as the Google Home and Amazon Echo.