I have a really hard time believing anyone really needs something that small. For a time, I lived in a small studio apartment. It was so tiny, it had a
Murphy bed to allow one to use the space for other things while not sleeping. If I remember right, I had a folding table that I used for dining, and I had two chairs in case I had a guest. My receiver at that time was a
Pioneer SX-1250. The fact that it was extra large was not a problem. It is all a question of how one chooses to use one's space.
I also had a turntable, cassette deck, and CD player, all on a rack.
Now, really big speakers could have been a problem in such a small space, but any normal sized speaker would fit, if one really wanted them. As it was, I had a pair of small bookshelf speakers, that I put on speaker stands (so tower speakers would not have taken up any more room, though back then, tower speakers were more rare than today, and I had limited funds; otherwise, I would have lived in a bigger place).
Of course, if others want something extra small, then that is what they should get. But they should realize that extra small comes at a price, both monetarily and in sound quality/capability.
I suppose if one is living in a closet it might be necessary to have something tiny, but I had a very small studio apartment and there was no problem fitting an extra large receiver in it.
I think there is about zero chance that I will ever want to pay extra to get a less capable tiny unit, even if I were forced back into that same tiny studio apartment I lived in over 20 years ago.
So my response to the last question of the article:
What do you think, is this type of product you would consider for a secondary system in the home, dorm, or office?
Almost certainly not. I would rather have something that takes up a bit more space that costs less and sounds better. Regular sized components easily fit in a regular sized room; they are not prohibitively big.
But, again, if others wish to pay extra for worse sound/less capability so that they can have something tiny, that is their choice.