Apple issued a press release for its forthcoming HomePod smart speaker on Tuesday, in which it revealed an interesting detail about Siri.

The company claims that its digital assistant, which is at the heart of the HomePod's smart functionalities, is now used by a whopping 500 million users.

Apple doesn't specify what exactly counts as a "user," nor whether these are daily or monthly users; the latter being more likely.

Before the press release, Apple had given an update on Siri usage last June, at its 2017 WWDC conference, where it said that some 375 million customers regularly used it.

"Siri, now actively used on over half a billion devices, has developed a deep knowledge of music and understands your preferences and tastes," the statement reads.

Siri is one of the unifying threads of all Apple devices. It runs on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but also the Apple Watch and Apple TV.

Over the last two fiscal quarters alone, Apple shipped an estimated 130 million Siri-enabled devices, AppleInsider reports, which is probably one of the reasons why the company saw such a massive boost in usage over just seven months (Siri was first introduced in 2011 with the iPhone 4S).

And the numbers don't even include the first quarter of this year, which will probably add other tens of millions of Siri-equipped products — and the HomePod will only add to that.

Pre-orders for the £319 ($349) HomePod start this Friday, while shipments will begin on February 9.

Source: businessinsider