On Apple's website, it appears the firm has sold out of pre-order stock, with the HomePod in Space Grey and White both now listed as shipping on mid-February.

Of course, it might only have had a couple if Home Pods in its storerooms but a sell out is a sellout and as far as the Tame Apple Press is concerned Amazon and Google should stop selling their AI based speakers as Jobs' Mob really invented the tech.

For those who came in late, the HomePod is Apple's first stab at copying Amazon and Google's smart speaker market with a less useful and much more expensive model.

It is controlled by a dumbed down version of Siri which can only answer a list of questions agreed by Apple in advance. It can read out the news, send iMessages to ask your mum to bring your dinner down to your basement room and hawk music from Jobs' Mob's god awful Apple music.

Other than that it plays music through a single mono, tinny speaker appropriately designed like a rubbish bin.