55" Apple LCD TV for about $2,000 seen as matter of 'when,' not 'if'

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Recent information from component suppliers and comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook have further increased one analyst's confidence that Apple will unveil a television set late this year and launch it in the first half of 2013.

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. Such a product would add between 4 and 8 percent to Apple's calendar year 2013 revenues, he believes.

"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.'"

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.

For Munster, the key focus for Apple will be creating a revolutionary TV interface, likely including Siri, compatibility with third-party devices, and potential integration with content guides. If the company can achieve those goal, he believes the interface will be the device's key selling point.

Munster also believes that an Apple television would have its own App Store for games, music, video and other content. He sees users interacting with these applications through their voice, an iPhone or iPad, and potentially even motion capture built in to the display.

HDTV


He also expects that an Apple TV set would include design cues from the company's existing product lineup, such as an aluminum casing and a minimal number of wires. The design will make it "the stand-out centerpiece of the consumer's living room," he said.

Munster also expects that Apple's television set will feature an LCD screen, rather than next-generation OLED display technology. He noted that OLED panels remain too costly for large screen sizes for Apple to adopt.

As for content, the analyst doesn't expect Apple to revolutionize that aspect of TV watching. Munster believes Apple ultimately wants to offer users unbundled channels and more options, but since content owners are hesitant to change.

"This will take time (3-5 years), and while we believe Apple will innovate on its existing TV content offering at the launch of the Apple Television, we caution that the initial offering may more closely resemble the apple TV content offering (Netflix, iTunes, and eventually Hulu)," he said.

The connected TV market in 2013 is estimated by Piper Jaffray to be sales of 110 million units. If Apple were to capture between 5 and 10 percent of that with an average selling price of $1,750, it would be sales of between 5.5 million and 11 million, which would add 4 to 8 percent to the company's calendar year 2013 revenue.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 141
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Your title is wrong. You state:
    "55" Apple LCD TV for about $2,000 seen as matter of 'if,' not 'when'"

    I think you really mean:
    "55" Apple LCD TV for about $2,000 seen as matter of 'when,' not 'if'"
  • Reply 2 of 141
    stepssteps Posts: 11member


    yes - the author (Neil Hughes) got mixed up on the title :)


    It needs to be:


     


    "55" Apple LCD TV for about $2,000 seen as matter of 'when,' not 'if'"

  • Reply 3 of 141

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post



    Your title is wrong. You state:

    "55" Apple LCD TV for about $2,000 seen as matter of 'if,' not 'when'"

    I think you really mean:

    "55" Apple LCD TV for about $2,000 seen as matter of 'when,' not 'if'"


     


    Sloppy work

  • Reply 4 of 141
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    So- $1,100 or $1,200 for a 60" LG or Samsung Plasma, or $2,000 for a 55" LED. It better have some serious integration (cable box and Blu ray built in and amazingly intuitive to control)- or something else crazy I haven't thought of. Otherwise, plasma and apple tv for me.
  • Reply 5 of 141
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member


    Hopefully 55" is the mid size from a series of size options, I've had that for years.  Many people, me included, are ready for larger.


     


    I suspect there is something radically innovative involved no one has figured out.  So far everything seems to be simply Apple TV built into an Apple branded TV (Apple Monitor), I have to believe there is way more than that coming (if it's coming ...).

  • Reply 6 of 141
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    You know that rumour about a 7.85" tablet from Apple? That does make sense because it does let them use the same tech they've been using since 2007 for the display as it's just a larger sheet of that 164.83 PPI display. Surely that should save them a bundle?

    If Apple makes a 53.46" HDTV they could use that same tech for an 8K (7680x4320) HDTV. Of course that means just one TV size (TV buying doesn't work that way), it also means no content except what Apple would use for the OS that could possibly show 8K, and it would also be a TN panel not IPS. They could also use the panels they've been using for their non-HiDPI Macs all these years, too, which makes more sense on many levels but I didn't run those numbers.
  • Reply 7 of 141
    eideardeideard Posts: 428member


    All that would be needed to move me over at that price/size would be a 4K screen.  Afraid that would change the price a lot, though.

  • Reply 8 of 141
    conrailconrail Posts: 489member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Eideard View Post


    All that would be needed to move me over at that price/size would be a 4K screen.  Afraid that would change the price a lot, though.



    4K would be useless without 4K content.  There's a small amount of 4K stuff available online, but not enough to justify a 4K set.  Unless Apple is working with the industry to make HD obsolete already.  

  • Reply 9 of 141
    zunxzunx Posts: 620member


    Which TV sets have two DTT tuners for Full Picture-in-Picture (Full PiP), which requires at least two Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV or DTT) tuners inside the TV set? The Full PiP feature is extremely useful for channel surfing during commercials (ie., very handy for bridging commercial breaks). Thus, waiting for commercials to end on one show while flipping through channels to see what else is on. No cable/satellite/TiVo/DVR involved; just the TV set. After image quality, Full PiP is the most important feature of a TV for many consumers.

  • Reply 10 of 141
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    aaagghhh

    I still click reply instead of quote ... not sure what friggin use a reply is to a comment without a quote so why have a reply?
  • Reply 11 of 141
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    conrail wrote: »
    4K would be useless without 4K content.  There's a small amount of 4K stuff available online, but not enough to justify a 4K set.  Unless Apple is working with the industry to make HD obsolete already.  

    This is where Apple TV APIs and an App Store would be very nice.
  • Reply 12 of 141
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    zunx wrote: »
    Which TV sets have two DTT tuners for Full Picture-in-Picture (Full PiP), which requires at least two Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV or DTT) tuners inside the TV set? The Full PiP feature is extremely useful for channel surfing during commercials (ie., very handy for bridging commercial breaks). Thus, waiting for commercials to end on one show while flipping through channels to see what else is on. No cable/satellite/TiVo/DVR involved; just the TV set. After image quality, Full PiP is the most important feature of a TV for many consumers.

    Thanks for the preferences tip. However, it still shows no emticons for me ... I get blue boxes with question marks.
  • Reply 13 of 141
    al_bundyal_bundy Posts: 1,525member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zunx View Post


    Which TV sets have two DTT tuners for Full Picture-in-Picture (Full PiP), which requires at least two Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV or DTT) tuners inside the TV set? The Full PiP feature is extremely useful for channel surfing during commercials (ie., very handy for bridging commercial breaks). Thus, waiting for commercials to end on one show while flipping through channels to see what else is on. No cable/satellite/TiVo/DVR involved; just the TV set. After image quality, Full PiP is the most important feature of a TV for many consumers.



    my cable box will minimize the current channel while i channel surf. i've never used PiP

  • Reply 14 of 141
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Thanks for the preferences tip. However, it still shows no emticons for me ... I get blue boxes with question marks.


     


    Yep, AppleInsider really Samsunged the look and feel of the new site with a slight lack of Apple-quality testing.


     


    ?And when? ?are they going? ?to fix the problem? ?with all the damn, occasional? ?question-marks?


     


    ?Riddle me that!?


     


    12_RiddlerQuestionMark.jpg

  • Reply 15 of 141
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    gtr wrote: »
    Yep, AppleInsider really Samsunged the look and feel of the new site with a slight lack of Apple-quality testing.

    ?And when? ?are they going? ?to fix the problem? ?with all the damn, occasional? ?question-marks?

    ?Riddle me that!?

    I've never seen that. I have Western (ISO Latin 1) set as my default encoding in Safari 5.2.
  • Reply 16 of 141
    conrailconrail Posts: 489member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    This is where Apple TV APIs and an App Store would be very nice.


    Streaming 4K content is going to be hurt by bandwidth issues for most locations.


     


    Not trying to throw up roadblocks, but acknowledging that Apple would have to rely too much on factors outside their control for this to provide the quality they would desire.

  • Reply 17 of 141
    tailpipetailpipe Posts: 345member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Hopefully 55" is the mid size from a series of size options, I've had that for years.  Many people, me included, are ready for larger.


     


    I suspect there is something radically innovative involved no one has figured out.  So far everything seems to be simply Apple TV built into an Apple branded TV (Apple Monitor), I have to believe there is way more than that coming (if it's coming ...).



     


    This view has to be right. There would be little point in Apple entering the TV game at this stage unless it had some pretty cool new technology to bring to the party. 


     


    What could that be? Hardware revolution: Screen resolution, 3D, or perhaps it is software driven: the way TV content is distributed? Something like a new TV service as radical as iTunes to rival the likes of Sky broadcasting? 


     


    The move from analogue to digital is now complete in the UK and super fast broadband is now being rolled out. Goodbye satellite and hello internet TV channels. The start of this could be Apple's own TV service: buying a range of content and distributing it via an online subscription service. I can see Apple doing deals with HBO, National Geographic, the History Channel, Nickelodeon and of course sports channels.


     


    In the UK, we're pretty limited in our choice of channels because you have to buy large Sky packages (with a whole bunch of stuff you don't want) to get the stuff you do want. Sky's pricing is based on its monopolistic status. So TV is ripe for a revolution.  

  • Reply 18 of 141
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member


    I still don't buy this TV from Apple. TVs have small margins it's not worth it. But if they do, Sammy will release one strikingly familiar to it and says "that's where the design convergence will be! It's just coincidental that Apple got there first."

     

  • Reply 19 of 141
    slinbergslinberg Posts: 34member


    $2000 for a TV? Sure.


     


    If I'm ever going to lay out that kind of change, it has to be a full-blown Mac on the inside. An iMac with a 55" monitor. $2k for that, fine. $2k for just the monitor, forget it.

  • Reply 20 of 141
    thepixeldocthepixeldoc Posts: 2,257member
    I commented on an earlier thread about the forthcoming AppleTV, and just did a quick Google research on some of the things that I think will definitely be included in any Apple-branded TV to be successful.

    [LIST=1]
    [*] Remote replacement for all connected devices inkl. BluRay, Tivo, Cablebox, etc. I think Apple will sell their current remote stand-alone, but also update their iOS remote. While it could be a simple IR... an RF remote would be better, as stated in this glowing review of the [URL=http://universal-remote-review.toptenreviews.com/logitech-harmony-one-review.html]Logitec Harmony One ~$160,00[/URL].
    [*] Programming their own chip to interface with the [URL=http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hdmi2.htm]consumer electronics channel (CEC) in HDMI cables[/URL] to allow devices to communicate with each other
    [*] Full use of the HDMI 1.3 spec, as well as DisplayPort.
    [*] integrated iSight camera is a given, but what about [URL=http://leapmotion.com/]Leap Motion[/URL]?

    [/LIST]

    Personally, I think the Universal Remote is the biggest improvement that Apple can make to most any entertainment system.... and actually improve it rather easily.
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