Apple TV disappears from BestBuy.com as refresh rumors swirl
Best Buy is no longer selling the Apple TV on its website, prompting speculation that a new model from Apple is soon to arrive.
Though BestBuy.com carried Apple's set-top box as recently as the 2011 holiday season, the device was nowhere to be found on the retailer's website as of early Friday.
AppleInsider contacted the company's sales division to inquire about stock of the Apple TV. A Best Buy salesperson was unable to say when exactly the device had been removed from the website's listings. "I don't recall seeing them for a while," he said.
"At this point in time, it doesn't look like we'll be getting [the Apple TV] back," the representative said after performing an inventory check.
An AppleInsider reader reported having a similar experience on Thursday, noting that a Best Buy employee checked inventory in all stores and found that they were all out of stock. Apple does, however, continue to list the Apple TV as "In Stock" on its website.
The disappearance of the Apple TV from Best Buy's inventory comes as a surprise because the big-box retailer was one of the first to carry the device when it first arrived in 2007. The original Apple TV got off to a promising start, but the product has yet to become more than a "hobby" for Apple.
Though a second-generation refresh of the device jumpstarted sales in 2010, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at an investment conference earlier this week that revenues from Apple TV are still a tiny fraction of those generated by the iPhone, iPad or Mac.
He also pointed out that Apple's decision to direct resources to the Apple TV was unusual because the company doesn't normally "do hobbies." According to the executive, the company sees potential for something larger to eventually develop from the device.
Many have speculated that Apple's plans for expanding its Apple TV platform involve a full-fledged television set. Multiple reports have suggested that the company has begun building prototypes for a connected TV, with one even claiming that Canadian telecoms Rogers and BCE are testing the set in their labs.
Best Buy actually made headlines about an Apple television set earlier this month when a speculative customer survey was leaked because it contained references to a 42-inch iOS-based HDTV from Apple. The company responded by pointing out that the survey was a "routine offer effectiveness survey" conducted by a research partner and was strictly hypothetical.
Sales of the second-generation Apple TV reached a record 1.4 million units in the most recent quarter roughly half of the 2.8 million units sold during the previous fiscal year, which ended last September.
Apple clearly still has big plans for the Apple TV, as the company announced that it will bring the AirPlay Mirroring feature to its Mac computers with the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this summer. The feature will allow users to wirelessly stream from their Macs to an HDTV via the Apple TV.
With rumors swirling that Apple is readying Retina Display versions of both its iPad and MacBook Pro, some have speculated that the Apple TV is due for a refresh to upgrade video support from a maximum resolution of 720p to 1080p.
AppleInsider reported last year that Apple was investigating 1080p HD+ content for its iTunes movie store. People familiar with the matter said Apple already has the backend in place to serve up 1080p video files, adding that consumer connection speeds are the biggest bottleneck at present. The arrival of AirPlay Mirroring for Mac could address some of these issues, though, as users could download the files to their computers ahead of time and then stream them to the Apple TV, rather than directly streaming them over the Internet.
Given that the second-generation Apple TV is powered by the A4 chip, it's possible that Apple could skip a generation and jump to the A6 processor for the rumored next-generation Apple TV. The company is expected to unveil the new chip alongside the third-generation iPad in early March. Reports have differed on whether the A6 will be quad-core or dual-core, but most are in agreement that the chip will see a significant boost in graphics capability and overall speed.
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Comments
Never the less, assuming $100 bucks and cool new features, I am eager to upgrade.
Apple TV has huge potential but it needs a good deal of work for it be more than a hobby. The timing would make sense to release an SDK with the new ATV to get developers working on apps before the expected Apple television later this year or early next year.
Apple is bringing iOS to the Mac, it would also make sense to bring some iOS features to ATV. I expect a redesigned interface for ATV with the feel of iOS but who knows when it will happen.
iOS TV
What I'm hoping Apple is able to pull off is to shake up the American cable companies!! Many people are sick of paying for channels they do not need!! People want to cut the cord but there are certain channels they crave(ESPN
Am I waaaay off base here?
Hmmm, what other event might that coincide with.
Gonna be a big and hopefully great day!
Called the local Apple Store and they said they "won't be getting any until March 7th."
Hmmm, what other event might that coincide with.
Gonna be a big and hopefully great day!
Nice!
I had the rev1 appleTV, loved it, but it ran sooooo hot it actually warmed up my room. Got the rev2 appleTV, loved it even more with the extra features. I use it just about every day. I got my mom one, and even though she is super NON-tech savvy, she uses it all the time. (I'm kind of glad the remote is overly dumbed down for that reason) I ripped all her DVDs into itunes on her computer, and she uses it for music, pictures, and netflix tv shows, etc etc as well. I was recently considering buying a 2nd one for her so she could have one on both her bedroom and living room TVs, connected to the single itunes library, but now that there might be a new one coming out soon, I'm going to hold off. If there's a new one with new specs and features, I'll likely want to buy it for myself, and then I can give my previous model to my mom and set it up for her, so she'll have 2 of the same type.
Your mom has a nice son. Seriously.
Your mom has a nice son. Seriously.
I second that.
Can't wait for the iPad 3! I'll be selling my 64GB iPad 2 (mainly just for the Retina display and hopefully faster processor, and maybe "One more thing..."
Then I'll buy the iPad 3 16GB or 32GB model depending on how much money I get for my iPad 2, and hopefully also the Apple TV 3G (or "2G S"
Anyways, that's my overwhelmingly happy self letting all my thoughts out! Thanks for this little tip AppleInsider. I was beginning to think that there was never going to be an Apple TV update! Rumors have been around for such a long time it feels like!
P.S. - If you haven't checked out "The Verge's" Josh Topolsky video about the iPad 3 release date speculation, it's quite hilarious and ridiculous :P Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66j5jFEgWzU
People familiar with the matter said Apple already has the backend in place to serve up 1080p video files, adding that consumer connection speeds are the biggest bottleneck at present.
That problem isn't going to go away anytime soon.
What we need is some kind of zip technology which compresses the HD film into a very small file that you unzip once downloaded before playing it.
Or Apple could do a deal with the film studios to add an iTunes copy to each BluRay disk so you can easily rip it into your iTunes library like you can for CDs now.
Called the local Apple Store and they said they "won't be getting any until March 7th."
Hmmm, what other event might that coincide with.
Gonna be a big and hopefully great day!
oh yeah! I need to upgrade from my 1st Gen, the only other thing I want now is a Nike Fuelband!
That problem isn't going to go away anytime soon.
What we need is some kind of zip technology which compresses the HD film into a very small file that you unzip once downloaded before playing it.
Or Apple could do a deal with the film studios to add an iTunes copy to each BluRay disk so you can easily rip it into your iTunes library like you can for CDs now.
That stinks. I definitely have the ability to stream 1080p files. I have 100mbps down with 5mbps upload.
I'm ready to but the 3rd gen Apple TV. (iTV3?)
It's a bit silly running a 27 inch iMac to play movies on your tv
I love my Apple TV, and I even used to use it until my wife started bitching about my entertainment choices, forcing me to retreat to Netflix on my iPad.
Never the less, assuming $100 bucks and cool new features, I am eager to upgrade.
Time to sell the wife and get an ATV3.
Lemon Bon Bon.