“Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray sees Apple’s full-fledged television set retailing between $1,500 and $2,000, with screen sizes between 42 inches and 55 inches,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“Such a product would add between 4 and 8 percent to Apple’s calendar year 2013 revenues, he believes,” Hughes reports. “‘The bottom line is that evidence including our checks this week and over the past two years with component suppliers, Tim Cook’s D10 interview, Steve Jobs’ biography, and third party reports all point to Apple working on a television,’ Munster wrote in a note to investors on Friday. ‘We believe ‘if’ has been decided and now the question is ‘when.””
Hughes reports, “He expects that the product will be unveiled later this year and will hit the market about six months after it is announced. That would be in line with Apple’s previous product launches with the iPhone and iPad, both of which were announced months before their launch to give developers a head-start.”
Read more in the full article here.
If apple is going to produce a “TV”, then there must be something unique about it that nobody knows about. I’m really curious what is going on with this rumor…
This is what fascinates me as well. Why would it be special? I can understand high quality parts but what else?
1) Some sort of retina type screen?
2) Siri type controls (not sure how well that would work)
3) Built-in Apple TV unit (so what, can buy an exterior unit)
4) It emanates the smell of popcorn and coke during movies?
Whats special? Content and a new distribution channel: everything on demand!
Yadda – yadda – yadda.
agreed
The idea of an Apple made TV sounds really cool but I really can’t see this being a big seller.
Distribution will be an issue. Getting units into all the usual retail outlets will be hard. Still on the bright side you would only need to buy 0.5M units to make 1B revenue.
We don’t also know the cost of manufacturing either. Apple typically make 30-50% margins on their products. Apple will likely have to include both panel hardware and also some iOS hardware as well.
Tell me more about this iOS hardware.
Not sure what would be so hard for Apple to get their TV into stores. Best Buy, Wal Mart, Target, etc all sell Apple hardware and TV’s. I can;t imagine any of them turning down a TV made by Apple. Also, if they go around the cable companies and offer access over LTE from the carriers, then you have those stores as well.
If they announce before Christmas, the current TV manufacturers will sh*t a brick as the Christmas and Super Bowl television shopping season will be trashed as all buyers wait for the new Apple device.
“That would be in line with Apple’s previous product launches with the iPhone and iPad, both of which were announced months before their launch to give developers a head-start.”
The iPhone was announced month’s before because it had to be approved by the FCC, and Apple did not want those public records to ruin the surprise. I don’t even think that Apple had a developer program for the iPhone at launch because it was only allowing web development? Can anybody confirm this?
That’s correct. There were no third party apps for iPhone at launch. That came nearly a year later, if I remember.
In the past, the “six months” heads up on products like the Apple TV is because those products have to be first evaluated by the FCC. (No secrets after that happens everyone will start making their iKiller TVs at that point.) These guys should know that by now. If not, go back and watch the Keynote that Steve Jobs did with the AppleTV. Steve said why Apple had to talk about it prior to release.
$2,000 == 0 sales
Probably not true.
Gene Munster is an Apple fanboy and not to be trusted with reality. I’d highly consider buying a 42″ to 46″ iTV for around $1500, but it would have to enable me to pay for only the stations I want to watch which would include Japan and Korean programming. I’d only need about 30 HD stations at most. If the iTV allowed me to cut back on monthly fees, the extra money I’d be paying for the hardware would be worthwhile. As an Apple shareholder, I’d have no problem paying the Apple premium for high-quality hardware. The thing is, I’d really like to be able to record shows occasionally and knowing Apple, they probably wouldn’t support such a simple thing.
I don’t think Apple will make much money by selling an iTV so revenues won’t likely be very high.
An Army of one!
I say there’ll be no TV – it’s going to be a toaster/frig that Cook keeps joking about.
I just don’t see why there needs to be an iTV. I think the Apple TV does more for a TV than hardware that apple would create. The idea that everyone wants is a streaming Apple TV for whatever channel they can have. This can be done with an Apple TV if broadcasters sign up. Thats just the way I see apple doing it
I pity the people lugging their 55″ TV to the Genius Bar for Apple Care repairs. I just cannot believe Apple wants to get into the TV hardware business.
+1
+1? 1? Just 1?
“I pity the people lugging their 55″ TV to the Genius Bar for Apple Care repairs. I just cannot believe Apple wants to get into the TV hardware business.”
The first time I heard this crap, I knew it was crap. Now, it’s just plain stupid for the very reason listed above.
Now can we please stop with the TV nonsense. Monkey’s will sooner be flying out of Balmer’s ass.
“Monkey’s will sooner be flying out of Balmer’s ass”
That happened last Tuesday.
I would be a device that is mostly software driven and of course it’s connected to the internet. Many problems would be able to be diagnosed and resolved remotely, so there would be less need to physically lug it into a store.
As unlikely as an Apple-branded TV might be, based on a recent negative experience with a commercial display, I can well see an area where Apple could do things right.
This unit, like most, had multiple viewing modes – Dynamic, Standard, Natural, and Movie. Each of them had a myriad of adjustments – a dozen or so for some modes. And with all that, I couldn’t get a clear and accurate image. Why should that be?
We all know what we want: sharpness reflecting the quality of the source, wide viewing angle, deep blacks and proper contrast, accurate color, etc. It shouldn’t be that hard, though each of the current display technologies offers different trade-offs. And just as we shouldn’t expect a PC user to be as tech savvy as a system administrator, nor should we expect a consumer to serve as a television calibrator. Any vendor focused on the “consumer experience” will have to deal with this. And if anyone can do this right, it’s Apple.
I think Munster has to keep putting out hypothetical guesses as “checks with component suppliers” so he doesn’t look like a fool when there still is no iTV or whatever Apple will call it, IF it produces something. It’s getting a bit ridiculous, and if Apple never produces a TV, Munster is going to lose any credibility he once had.
Gene! I mean, c’mon. Y’know, I like the guy, but this TV silliness is getting to be really old. He’ll lose a lot of credibility if this mythical device never materializes. Then again, if it does happen…
Why is everyone having such a hard time understanding that there is likely an AppleTV in the works? There have been several hints at the product including from Steve. There’s the quote in the Bio and the hints he used to give by calling the AppleTV a hobby. It was their way of saying it’s a test and the little box is not their real product, they are just playing around for now. As far as not being able to imagine what it could do differently… well leave that to Apple, after all they are known for producing products beyond our imagination. Start saving your dollars people. Something great is coming!
LCD?! Really?! 1500-2000 for a tv that more readily suffers from burn-in, and isn’t as bright?
Something’s not correct here.