“Apple has finished out both its press events for the fall without so much as a whiff of the new Apple TV – which means the next generation, whether it comes in the form of a revised set top box or actual television sets or both, won’t see its release date until 2015,” Phil Moore writes for Stabley Times. “That represents not only a break in Apple’s usual pattern of updating the product in the fall, but also opens the door to speculation as to what’s taking Apple so long and what its roadmap really is for the product going forward.”
“Even if Apple does bring out its own television sets, there is little strategic reason for Apple to abandon its attempt at reaching those who have already invested hundreds or thousands in a TV set from another vendor – at least for the next few years, giving those consumers the opportunity to reach the end of their current set’s lifespan and before being steered toward an Apple Television at that point,” Phil Moore writes for Stabley Times. “But there are also several reasons, some evidence based and some empirical, to expect Apple television sets to happen.”
“Just don’t look for Apple televisions to debut at Walmart style prices,” Moore writes. “We’d be shocked to see the first generation Apple television sets arrive with a price tag at any less than $999, with an $1199 entry point more likely.”
Read more in the full article here.
They’re probably better off buying a company like Sky in the UK and just going from there.
Whilst I would love it if Apple bought Sky and removed the taint of the vile Murdoch clan Sky is amongst NewsCorp’s most profitable divisions. They won’t give it up unless forced to.
Yes when Hell ices over I would say (and as a close friend of the Devil Murdoch would know) its the future for News Corp as they increasing dump traditional press. Not sure what it would off Apple unless broarcasting and programming as seen as an important next step. Seems unlikely to me it’s not focused enough or within its existing skill set.
Hmm. A comment during the last Keynote said something to the effect: You can buy a 5K iMac 27″ Retina for less than the price of a 4K TV. The implication being: Why buy a dumb TV when you can an intelligent iMac for less.
yeah, although I would not want to look at a 27” in the evening instead of on a 40 or 50”
Surprised to hear someone still talking about an Apple-branded set. And what really is the lifespan of current sets? Decades? The TV prices continue to fall even as the viewing experience improves. No profit margin for Apple, and it’s too saturated a market for them to compete in. Stick with the set-top boxes, Apple – all the opportunity for important stuff for the TV experience will happen between the source (cable, wifi, satellite, receiver, DVR, computer, iPad, phone, etc.) and the display, unless you have a new, patented, inexpensive display technology that blows the current model apart.
Grrrrilla,
Totally correct. You can tell an idiot anal…yst or reporter when they say…… marketshare or Apple Tv set etc.
Todays tv sets are not bad buys. 32 inch for 250$ and 47 inch for 550$ and when they are all mostly made by the same companies, and last for 8-10 years, you just cannot go wrong.
So why would Apple care about the big screen when their little box drives it so well. ????????
Just saying.
I had a 60″ Sony LED TV replacing another defective Sony 60″ DLP TV fail within 17 months and Sony refused to do anything about it as the warranty (which they weren’t extending as an option at the time) had run out at 12 months. The cheap 60″ Costco Vizio I bought for the family room was mysteriously hit apparently (though was working fine one minute and not working well the next) and while no surface damage was visible there was a nasty LED screen crack and the subsequent screen failure after only 3 months and 5 years of extended warranty purchased. Vizio wouldn’t do anything either.
Call me cynical.
Yep. The HDTV is just the dumb display for the AppleTV. Integrating extra functions into the HDTV just increases the likelihood of a single-point failure slagging the whole system. That is why I actively avoided paying extra for a fancy “smart” HDTV. I just wanted one with a solid display. I don’t need several inferior internet interfaces (HDTV, BluRay player, etc.) to Netflix and Hulu and the like. I only need one good one, preferably one great one. Plus, the AppleTV approach makes it easy to upgrade the entire “smarts” quickly and easily at low cost.
@ IDK….. Why not a 50 inch monitor hooked up to your new 5K iMac?
Probably because Mac OS X screen sharing leaves so much to be desired. It can’t manage screen mirroring with different resolution screens, and expanding the screen is a nightmare if the screens are in different rooms, since dialog boxes randomly pop up on one display or the other without logic.
Each and every sentence in this article could be suffixed with “, or not.”
I guess nobody has looked for a 4K TV lately – Visio has a 50″ for $999 and a 70″ for $2498.00
Apple isn’t going to compete with hardware and ride the price to the bottom. If they can’t control the content experience, they’re not going to play.
following article predicts Apple TV as centerpiece for home integration.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2292645-apples-new-strategic-centerpiece
$1,199? Maybe for a 24 inch screen
PLEASE turn off your ads that automatically start a video when I visit your page. It is ASININLY annoying!
ASININELY?
Also, there are blockers available.
zzzzzzz
Why does apple bother? The fire TV has got apple beat. I loved my Apple TV 2 for years but even the 3 is now outdated and it can run XBMC so it’s worthless to me.
The set top box market is crazy there are new boxes almost daily and apple hasn’t had a new one in years.
I have access to AMAzon prime I can load any program I want and I get voice search and tons of apps. Apple messed it up when they refused to open the atv up to other apps.
I know who would think of AMAzon as a hardware maker? The kindle fires and fire phone suck and I wouldn’t touch them if you gave them to me. But the fire TV is awesome. And it now outsells the roku.
I hate when a MISLEADING headline fools me into clicking an article.
I was expecting an appletv real ease date and price!
I’m still skeptical that Apple will sell an actual TV. It just seems like a small opportunity.
What Apple wants to do is change how TV is experienced. Tim has spoken about this several times. He says that when he sits down to watch TV the experience is one of going back to a primitive time. He doesn’t complain about screen resolution or size or quality. It is the experience. With Apple TV or a similar gadget Apple can inject their software into any display.