“However you look at it, when CEO Tim Cook showed off the new [Apple TV] hardware at the Sept. 9 event, it was long overdue,” Daniel B. Kline writes for The Motley Fool. “For the most part, the new Apple TV didn’t disappoint, but in one key area the company made a huge misstep.”
“The new box may deliver all of the features fans were hoping for — integrated voice search powered by Siri, an elegant new remote, and a new open environment with an app store — but it’s simply priced too high,” Kline writes. “There are Android phones and tablets as well as Windows-based laptops that match the Apple product line when it comes to mixing sleek design and high-end functionality. Those top-tier non-Apple phones, tablets, and laptops tend to be priced in line with iPads, iPhones, and MacBooks, making the Apple items a better deal because of brand reputation.”
MacDailyNews Take: Pure lie. No Android phone matches what Apple’s iPhone delivers in toto. Neither do crappy Windows laptops vs. Apple MacBooks, MacBook Airs, and MacBook Pros. Anyone who asserts otherwise is either a liar, an ignoramus, or, perhaps in Kline’s case, both.
Kline writes, “If you look at full retail pricing for the top-of-the-line Fire TV and the Roku 3, both boxes offer a similar experience to Apple for $50 less.”
MacDailyNews Take: No, they do not.
“Apple made a mistake here because its TV box just isn’t special enough to be priced so much higher than its nearest rivals,” Kline writes. “Had the company announced its in-the-works-but-may-not-happen TV service, then it would have had a unique package to offer customers that might justify the price tag.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Firstly, Apple’s over-the-top Internet TV service will arrive. Secondly, Apple is not interested in amassing market share numbers per se, which seems to be Kline’s sole basis for categorizing something as a “flop” or not. For example, Apple’s iPhone currently has 13.9% market share worldwide vs. Android’s 82.8% (IDC, August 2015), which would seem to be a “flop” in Kline’s book, toddlers’ picture book as it were. However, at last count, Apple’s iPhone owns 92% of smartphone industry’s profits.
Some flop.
Newsflash: Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers.
Apple, is interested in those consumers who have the brain power necessary to recognize quality and be willing to pay for it. Those who can’t or won’t deserve their fate. Amazon, Roku, Google, and the rest can have fun fighting over Apple’s table scraps, dogs that they are.
If you can’t afford or see the value of an Apple TV, you’re not in the target market. Stop whining. Nobody cares. Developers aren’t interested in those who can’t muster at least $149 for an Apple TV. Neither are makers of gaming controllers. Neither are content providers. And, neither is Apple, who are running a business, not a charity. If you want an Apple TV, but you can’t afford it, either save up for one or trot on over to Amazon and settle for a crappy wannabe and all that doesn’t go with it. The choice is yours. It’s like an IQ test.
So, to recap: As with Macintosh, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, nothing has changed with Apple TV. Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers and, when all is said and done, they will sell millions upon millions of Apple TV units worldwide.
SEE ALSO:
Apple TV and voice control: What Siri does that the others don’t – September 18, 2015
With the all-new Apple TV, Apple changes the game, yet again – September 14, 2015
What Apple got right in Apple TV’s user interface – and what needs work – September 11, 2015
New Apple TV has the potential to do for television what iPhone did for mobile phones – September 11, 2015
Apple preps to conquer living room with all-new Apple TV – September 11, 2015
Hands-on with the all-new Apple TV – September 10, 2015
Gruber: Apple TV will define how all TVs will work in a few years – September 10, 2015
