Target stores to pick up Apple TV

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Big-box retailer Target is poised to become the next third-party retailer to market Apple Inc.'s new Apple TV device at its brick-and-mortar retail stores, AppleInsider has learned.



The bullseye-themed shop will join Best Buy, which agreed to carry the inaugural Apple living room device at all of its locations just last month. Units have also popped up at various Circuit City and CompUSA stores.



People familiar with Target's plans say units should turn up in official capacity at several locations by month's end, exploiting the monthly rollover (or electronics department "reset") to establish a presence. Like Apple's own retail stores, Target will reportedly equip at least some locations with a full-blown demonstration unit hooked up to a widescreen HDTV, showcasing the product for shoppers unfamiliar with its concept.



It's unclear at this time how many of Target's 1488 stores plan to carry the Apple media system or, similarly, the size of the merchant's commitment to flashy showfloor display units. A representative for the retailer declined to comment on the report after conferring with Target's "internal partners."



While undoubtedly welcome as another means of exposing newcomers to its 40GB wireless media streamer, Apple's move into Target may initially see slow results. Although the device sat atop the online Apple Store's charts on launch, it has remained on the trailing edge of the top seller list ever since.



Apple TV has been lauded as the next TiVo replacement in the press. At the same time, however, checks with Best Buy reveal that the No. 1 U.S. electronics retailer's own foray into Apple TV sales has turned up a relatively low level of interest from shoppers thus far -- in some cases leaving stores with the majority of their initial allotments.



"We did receive three Apple TV's, and still have the same three," said a contact within one Best Buy store. "Not selling too well at our store."



The gradual cooling of pent-up demand combined with early third-party indicators foretells considerable challenges not just for Target but for Apple itself, the latter of which has had trouble persuading those outside its core fan base that the $299 unit has value even in the wake of a new TV ad campaign.



On the other hand, the mediocre adoption rate of Apple TV at Best Buy is unlikely to represent overall demand. A more telling indicator of early customer appreciation is expected on April 25th, when Apple is likely to hint at sales tallies via the company's direct channels as part of its fiscal second quarter report.



Target currently markets Apple TV only through its online store.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Oh boy, Target employees explaining Apple TV. Doesn't get any funner than that.
  • Reply 2 of 74
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    I'm sure the AppleTV won't sell well. It will still be enjoyed by those for whom it IS a good choice, and it's still an important step towards future things. A small part of a big story.
  • Reply 3 of 74
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    I must say, having seen one in action at the local Apple store, I'm pretty disappointed with AppleTV in its current configuration. The video quality is, to put it bluntly, amazingly, dishearteningly crappy. When they fix it to play true 720P video, and offer 720P movie *rentals* then I'll give it a second look.



    Well it did take until the 3G models before the iPod really took off.
  • Reply 4 of 74
    "The bullseye-themed shop" -- they are at it again!
  • Reply 5 of 74
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    I can't imagine the AppleTV selling well in BestBuy or Target. The latter is just a joke. The AppleTV will be selling great once the HD content is available for DL, but until then it just won't be worthwhile for most people.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraboy View Post


    The video quality is, to put it bluntly, amazingly, dishearteningly crappy. When they fix it to play true 720P video



    AppleTV does play 720p. What is not currently available is HD content from the iTunes Store.
  • Reply 6 of 74
    I am not surprised that best buy hasn't sold any Apple TVs. When I went to my local BB the other day, I asked a salesperson and they said. . ."um, I am not sure about that, I don't think Apple makes TVs but let me check." After about 5 minutes, someone from the CELL PHONE department came up and told me they had 4 in stock. I told them I would take 1 and she said, "ok, well we have to find them first. I didn't see any out there in our stock"



    I proceeded to watch 5 BB employees search for 20 minutes to find any of the 4 apple TVs. Finally the manager told me that they couldn't find them. I asked him if they were accustomed to misplacing 1200 bucks worth of inventory, and he assured me that they would "turn up eventually".



    Most of you probably remember the trials that Apple had in the late 1990s with Best Buy and its lackluster representation of apple products. Many stores didn't set up demos of the iMac let alone remove the iMac from their warehouse. That was one reason Apple pulled their inventory from Best Buy and was slow to bring the iPod to Best Buy. . . its ashame we are seeing the same thing over again, because marketed correctly, the Apple TV can be a revolutionary device. Now if we could just get some software updates from Cupertino!
  • Reply 7 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    "The bullseye-themed shop" -- they are at it again!



    This is starting to become a running joke. I think they're doing it on purpose.
  • Reply 8 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Big-box retailer Target is poised to become just the second third-party retailer to market Apple Inc.'s new Apple TV device at its brick-and-mortar retail stores



    Circuit City has been carrying AppleTV for quite some time now.

    http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Apple...oductDetail.do
  • Reply 9 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    AppleTV does play 720p. What is not currently available is HD content from the iTunes Store.



    exactly. appletv serves up hd beautifully. it's just from source files that aren't itunes downloads. i've converted a number of things from my eyetv into appletv format in high def and they look great.
  • Reply 10 of 74
    b3ns0nb3ns0n Posts: 95member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    "The bullseye-themed shop" -- they are at it again!



    For our English members:







    I think that would possibly be the best shop ever.
  • Reply 11 of 74
    I beg to differ. There is HD content on ITunes(depending on what you consider HD). Check the podcast section. I see more and more every day. The remainder of the content I have downloaded is perfectly acceptable while possibly not true HD.
  • Reply 12 of 74
    I assumed each BestBuy would get 5 Apple TVs. So the "contact" said his/her store got 3 Apple TVs and they didn't sell, than that means our local BestBuy store here sold 2 out of the 3 they got (not including the display model). I don't work there but I was there last week "browsing" and saw one AppleTV box with the security device on it and the display model within a glass enclouse.
  • Reply 13 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by b3ns0n View Post


    For our English members:







    I think that would possibly be the best shop ever.



    Super! Smashing! Great!



    My mate has converted almost all his DVDs to 720p files for Apple TV, and they look a treat. He showed me a Lost episode trailer from iTunes, and my god it looked like crap. If Apple TV is a hard sell in the states, the UK sales must be dire.



    Some sites are doing HD video podcasts for Apple TV, and they look great - how long are Apple going to wait to get HD content on iTunes?
  • Reply 14 of 74
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Oh boy, Target employees explaining Apple TV. Doesn't get any funner than that.



    Here in Sarasota, FL at our local Target (which is a great store for non electronics) I have yet to ever actually be helped at the electronics counter ... in fact I've yet to actually be asked, come to think about it .... I've yet to see anyone to ask ...
  • Reply 15 of 74
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Strawberry View Post


    Super! Smashing! Great!



    My mate has converted almost all his DVDs to 720p files for Apple TV, and they look a treat.



    Pretty much a waste of time. Standard DVDs are SD and to up convert to 720p is achieving little except maybe making them progressive which many already are at 480p plus unnecessarily large.



    To start with 640 x 480 (or whatever your SD standard is) and use a computer to create 1280 x 720 is simply up sampling, a slow and useless effort. Remember GIGO!



    It's like taking a 640 x 480 snap shot into Photoshop and enlarging and getting excited. The best thing to do with DVDs, once ripped, is to convert to H.264 at the best quality you can with double pass and high bit rate and progressive (if not already) but keep the size the same and let Apple TV deal with the size.
  • Reply 16 of 74
    maxmannmaxmann Posts: 85member
    putting the ITV into BB stores without a test is for only one reason.. they want the phone and this is RECKLESS PROOF of their need for it. experimenting with the ITV is a small price to pay in order to show loyalty, be a team player and because they will do anything to show how much they want the Iphone.



    Target? showing up in several locations is likely "test" taken by an enthusiastic buyer or maybe a need on the part of Target management to also show their interest in staying in the forefront of new products coming on the market - FROM APPLE WHO HAS THAT PHONE. this event is likely beyond the phone and meaningless as a predictor of anything at all in 07 or 08.



    What is interesting is that retailer TV buyers are smart enough (desperate) to seek out a higher margin accessory to their already disgustingly low margin TV business. The ITV takes up zero space diplayed with a TV and probably nets more profit than the sale of five TV sets. The fact is that if it isn't on display that way at Best Buy the purchase and coordination are askew and without viable reasons to be recognized.



    Apple has brand recognition at an all time high.. They are finally recoginized as a consumer electronics company and as an innovator by the mass market - these qualities have everyone in the business on their toes and in lock step. This is Sony in the 80's all over again. The question is whether Apple will take advantage of their position and expand product lines into more branded and profitable accessory consumer electronics accessorey items. Sony, for example, after several years selling the walkman caught on to packaging headphones to hang along side the no name venders that are currently getting most of the replacement headphone business at Target. the next question is when will Apple start taking advantage of their potential to sell profitable accessory product categories and start capitolizing on the high margin/high volume accessory business that the mass market enjoys?
  • Reply 17 of 74
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    "The bullseye-themed shop" -- they are at it again!



    If bad jokes hurt I'd be dead by now, that was bad.
  • Reply 18 of 74
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:





    You've got all the time in the world.. just take your time
  • Reply 19 of 74
    wilcowilco Posts: 985member
    Great news! Now, even more people can not buy one!
  • Reply 20 of 74
    I'd be willing to bet one of the "secrect features" in Leapord would have delivered some radical new HD file handling system (codec or otherwise) that Apple TV is waiting on. We already know the AppleTV is running OSX, it's just waiting for the new PC software running your source content (iTunes) to catch up with it... anyway, that's my best guess. 720P comes with Leapord. Now available in October (or January, or ...)
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