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“Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray on Monday issued a note to investors in which he reiterated his belief that Apple plans to launch a connected, full-fledged HDTV in the next 2 to 4 years,” Hughes reports. “He acknowledged recent rumors that the existing Apple TV set top box will be renamed iTV, but said that the anticipated product update will only be a stepping stone to the eventual flat panel living room TV.”
Hughes reports, “A key component for the Apple television set, Munster believes, will be Apple’s soon-to-launch data center in North Carolina. He believes the massive location could serve as a hub for a cloud-based iTunes service that would allow users to stream their catalog of movies and TV shows. Munster believes the upcoming Apple TV update will add an App Store, allowing users to download applications to run on the device.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Judge Bork” and “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
Low data rates and ISP restrictions put cloud driven 1080p HDTV in the distant future
That’s not exactly true. GREED puts it in the distant future. Other, less civilized countries can do this now, but the good old USA can’t…. why? because it’s more important to make money for the stockholders than to actually provide the service your customers are paying for.
TheMacAdvocate:
You are wrong. As I said earlier; iMac is essentially a $120 LCD monitor with a laptop motherboard slapped to the back of it. The two are as much of a commodity as you could possibly get, yet Apple sells the iMac for over a grand without much effort.
An Apple-branded TV will be a LCD HDTV (much like a $500 Dynex, or $1,000 Samsung), but with a Western Digital WDTV LIve slapped to the back of it. What is the difference between the iMac and an Apple HDTV set?
As for Gene Munster, he’s been most reliable and accurate analyst of them all. Unlike others, he actually does research by calling and surveying Apple stores, sending people to watch what people buy, and doing some data crunching. In other words, others google, while Munster actually does real legwork.
and to Macanatic:
I came back about a week ago. It seemed that MDN takes had toned down the political baiting. We’ll see how it goes. It looks like there are no other Mac fan aggregator sites out there with such rapid and complete coverage…
Well said, jltnol!
Greed and lack of long term planning have caused us to fall behind the rest of the world and, sadly, that not gonna chage anytime soon. Hence my modest proposal that our high quality content be deliveed via some sort of physical media that circumvents our third world infrastructure. If only there was such a thing. Why, if there was, we might even be able to somehow access this media with our Macs. Imagine that!
Let it steam from the iTunes running on the Mac or PC in our homes. Screw the cloud.
@Predrag
I usually respect your opinions here, but you’re off the mark on this one. The difference between an iMac and an Apple HDTV set is the reason why there’s an AppleTV now. Why would Apple go into the no-margin TV business when it can manufacturer a box that can work with *any* TV? Should it get into the receiver business too? What’s the home theater experience without a quality surround sound system? Maybe they can “slap” a receiver “on the back” of this thing too? Paging Jony Ive!
The set-top box is the logical cut-off point for an Apple offering. It keeps them focused on UI and access to media (things they do well) and leaves the commodity-end offerings to manufacturers that play in that market.
Gene does do more research than the garden-variety shill/analyst, but that’s a pretty low bar. Aside from his conclusion, about which I disagree with you and Munster, “2-4 years” in technology is a laughably weak hedge.
Yes, yes, yes….
Apple should buy Sprint and Comcast and Adobe and Avid and make a CDMA iPhone and make TVs and and and and and and
Fuck It, Apple, just buy ME a goddam New House!
(I can pipe-dream like the rest of ’em… CAN’T I?)
@Mr. Reeee
Apologies for what must look like a plagiarized response to Predrag. Scouts honor I had no idea what you wrote!
Why does Jonathan Ive have to come off as some precious, self-important hipster twat by spelling his first name “Jony”?
Jony, just like Pony and Sony?
First, Steve Jobs will never be able to resist slapping an Apple logo on the most prominant and important device in the home entertainment cabinet — the HDTV display. It’s partially an ego thing, partially an act of self-preservation.
Second, this could conceivable extend to A/V Receivers too.
Third, TV manufacturers already have partnered with other Internet-based content providers (such as Netflix, Hulu and Google’s YouTube, among others) to offer built-in menu placement on 2009 and 2010 HDTVs. These new TVs offer video content and Apps, though the Apps are remedial and acces is very slow. Apple will have no choice — eventually, competiton will force Jobs and company to offer bransed HDTV computers, if only to protect the iTunes franchise.
Fourth, if Apple does relaunch a new iTV with the 720p it’s currently using for AppleTV, it will be because this resolution is best suited for reliable, customer-friendly service given current ISP bandwidth limitations nationwide. If nothing else, Jobs is practical. Rest assured, Apple will have a plan to ramp up HD resolutions to 1080p as national bandwidths improve. Apple did this with music and it would do it with video content too.
Finally, gaming Apps and iPod/iPhone/iPad remote control and gamepad Apps will help drive widespread acceptance of an Apple-based ecosystem.
TheMacAdvocate:
As I said, I’m not convinced that a cloud-based video service upon which future Apple HDTV would rely is going to happen anytime soon, due to those bandwidth issues.
However, my point of disagreement with you is over that possible Apple HDTV set. PC business is also (practically) zero-margin business; yet, Apple is making solid profit on it in every segment of their product line, from Mac Mini (budget desktop), to Mac Pro (high-end desktop), to MacBook (premium notebook) to MacBook Pro (high-end notebook) and all in between. The PC industry can’t get more commoditiset than it already is, yet Apple figure out how to rake in massive margins. I have no doubt, if Apple chose to enter HDTV market, their TV set would differentiate itself significantly enough from current offering (which includes even the high-end Sony models) to attract discerning buyers and command healthy profit margins, likely by offering features and services never seen on any other brand. This is what Apple does, no matter in what market segment they participate.
I don’t know what happened to my typing but it’s embarrassing to see that many typos in a single post…
@Predrag
There’s no doubt Apple could turn a profit in just about any consumer electronics segment it entered. It doesn’t mean they should or will.
You and Gene have 4 years to see this happen, so I won’t be iCal’ing you.
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http://themacadvocate.com/2010/08/16/gene-munster-should-stick-to-regurgitating-others-credible-predictions-for-apple/
iPod touch goes large… VERY LARGE.
So initially, there will be a small device that turns your existing HDTV into a huge iPod touch for the living room, using a new cloud-based service for content distribution. Using that device, Apple will build-up a large customer base. Then, at some later point, there will be Apple-branded HDTV’s with that device integrated into the design. Existing customers will upgrade by buying the whole HDTV from Apple.
That makes sense. I hope Apple initially supports existing (current) Apple TV’s with some of those new features, including the App Store feature. When the iPhone’s App Store launched, there was an existing user base (potential customers) in the millions. It was immediately successful, and developers jumped onboard quickly. That’s exactly what Apple has with this rumored new Apple TV, an existing user base of customers, anxious to do something new with their Apple TVs.
@Mr. Reeee
People used to say the same of the iPhone…