Apple will begin mass shipments of the second-generation HomePod mini in the second half of 2024, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In his latest tweet sharing industry information, Kuo said Apple supplier Goertek has "secured NPI and assembly orders for the HomePod mini 2, which will start mass shipments in 2H24." NPI stands for New Production Introduction, which is a structured process for transforming a product idea into a complete end-product that can be fully reproduced.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is not actively working on a new version of the HomePod mini at this time, so Kuo's prediction comes as somewhat of a surprise. There are no obvious new features that are needed for the HomePod mini, and improvements to things like Siri and app integration can be made on the back end.
For his part, Gurman believes that Apple is working on "new speakers with screens and cameras," with Apple said to be developing HomePod models with a display and a camera to compete with the likes of Google's Nest Hub Max, Amazon's Echo Show, and Facebook's Portal. Whether this is the type of device Kuo is referring to when he says "HomePod mini 2" seems unlikely, but not impossible.
Regardless, Kuo clearly believes there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Apple plans to launch a new version of its smaller smart speaker, and by handing NPI and assembly responsibilities to Goertek, the supplier will be able to offset the negative impact caused by loss of orders due to production issues related to its AirPods Pro 2 production.
In the same series of tweets, Kuo also outlined his shipment schedule predictions for second-generation AirPods Max over-ear headphones and a new version of "low cost" AirPods.
