Apple said to sell Apple TV units at cost, HomePod at a loss

“John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame has made some astonishing claims on an episode of The Talk Show,” Paul Morris reports for RedmondPie. “The well-placed tech writer and Apple commentator has suggested that Apple sells its 4K Apple TV at cost and that the company actually makes a loss on each HomePod speaker it sells.”
“Yes, you read that right, according to John Gruber, Cupertino-based Apple Inc. goes to market with the 4K Apple TV priced at $180.00, which he believes is the exact same amount that the company pays to manufacturer each unit,” Morris reports. “He has also heard similar information pertaining to the company’s intelligent Siri-based speaker, the HomePod.”
“‘Apple actually sells [HomePod] at a loss. I can’t prove it. I don’t think it’s a big loss,'” [Gruber said],” Morris reports.
Apple TV 4K and its Siri Remote
 
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MacDailyNews Take: When you think about the technology inside both the Apple TV 4K and the HomePod, plus packaging, marketing, etc., we can easily see zero or worse margins on those products. They make up for it with app subscriptions, iTunes sales, and Apple Music memberships.