The reason I am not considering Apple HomePod is the restriction to the Apple ecosystem. This is what the author concludes as well. Given Apple's history, we will probably never see Spotify integration with Siri. Its integration with Androids is also not as great. I don't think it makes sense even if you're completely in the Apple ecosystem.

I use Spotify for my music on Echo dot. I connect my Echo dot with a 2.1 speaker system. I can get a much better speaker system with woofers and smart capabilities for much lower cost this way. So I don't get the appeal of HomePod if the main draw is its sound capabilities when compared to Echo or Google Home.