Full-fledged television considered 'more in tune' with Apple than simple set-top box
With Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook admitting that television is an area of "intense interest" for his company, pundits have debated whether Apple would build a full television set or simply enhance upon the existing Apple TV accessory.
Maynard Um of Wells Fargo Securities said on Friday in a research note provided to AppleInsider that he believes a full television set would be "more in tune with Apple's strategy" than an enhanced set-top box. He said he believes Apple would "relish" the opportunity to place the company's logo as "the centerpiece of the living room."
"While CEO Tim Cook did not outright state it would release a television set, his indication that it was 'an area of intense interest' suggests, to us, that Apple will eventually enter this market and round out the fourth and only missing screen in its ecosystem," Um wrote.
He believes that a key part of the Apple television will be Siri, the company's voice-driven personal assistant software currently found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. He believes that Apple's functionality will help to differentiate its product from other existing television sets on the market.
The main obstacle, in Um's view, is content. While Apple may be able to build a television set quickly, the company will need to secure deals for live television and more before it could launch a product. As a result, he doesn't see an Apple television launching until the second half of 2013, or perhaps even 2014.
Rumors have an Apple television set have persisted for years, but the possibility of a greatly enhanced Apple TV set-top box as an accessory for third-party televisions was raised this August. A report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Apple was considering building its own cable box that would include an iOS-like user interface and advanced cloud-based DVR functionality that would blur the line between live and on-demand content.
Whether Apple is working on a television, a cable box, or nothing at all, Cook has helped to fuel speculation with comments he made in an interview that aired this week on NBC's Rock Center.
"When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years," Cook told journalist Brian Williams. "It's an area of intense interest. I can't say more than that."
Of course, Cook said nothing that would confirm or deny any potential plans for an Apple television, instead opting to refer to his fondness for visions of the future from the animated show "The Jetsons." Williams himself admitted it was "frustrating" trying to pry answers from Apple's elusive CEO.
Maynard Um of Wells Fargo Securities said on Friday in a research note provided to AppleInsider that he believes a full television set would be "more in tune with Apple's strategy" than an enhanced set-top box. He said he believes Apple would "relish" the opportunity to place the company's logo as "the centerpiece of the living room."
"While CEO Tim Cook did not outright state it would release a television set, his indication that it was 'an area of intense interest' suggests, to us, that Apple will eventually enter this market and round out the fourth and only missing screen in its ecosystem," Um wrote.
He believes that a key part of the Apple television will be Siri, the company's voice-driven personal assistant software currently found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. He believes that Apple's functionality will help to differentiate its product from other existing television sets on the market.
The main obstacle, in Um's view, is content. While Apple may be able to build a television set quickly, the company will need to secure deals for live television and more before it could launch a product. As a result, he doesn't see an Apple television launching until the second half of 2013, or perhaps even 2014.
Rumors have an Apple television set have persisted for years, but the possibility of a greatly enhanced Apple TV set-top box as an accessory for third-party televisions was raised this August. A report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Apple was considering building its own cable box that would include an iOS-like user interface and advanced cloud-based DVR functionality that would blur the line between live and on-demand content.
Whether Apple is working on a television, a cable box, or nothing at all, Cook has helped to fuel speculation with comments he made in an interview that aired this week on NBC's Rock Center.
"When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years," Cook told journalist Brian Williams. "It's an area of intense interest. I can't say more than that."
Of course, Cook said nothing that would confirm or deny any potential plans for an Apple television, instead opting to refer to his fondness for visions of the future from the animated show "The Jetsons." Williams himself admitted it was "frustrating" trying to pry answers from Apple's elusive CEO.
Comments
Everyone's whining about hardware, no one's talking about content.
It's just the same old frigging TV box unless there's a service designed specifically for it.
They just fall right off of modern TVs.
if this thing isn't announced in January, i'm buying the [ugh] samsung tv and hoping whatever apple comes up with can be implemented as a new apple tv box as well.
Originally Posted by nagromme
The set-top box idea is dead. Not going to happen.
They just fall right off of modern TVs.
http://www.loewe.tv/int
Time will tell.
Why stick with a set-top box when even in *this* segment, Apple can design and release a complete turn-key solution - hardware AND software?
Apple software running on someone else's non-Apple branded and non-Apple designed hardware makes no sense as a long-term strategy. It is not a solution. Treat the TV like any other device to be re-imagined. The "computer" itself, MP3 players, phones, tablets, and now TVs. Same deal. Just another device to re-make.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
I agree that Apple doesn't want some new wow product on your screen while you're looking at an LG or Samsung logo. But I don't see them doing anything until they have something figured out on the content side. Maybe they'll do both TV set and something with ATV for those who aren't in the market for a new TV set. Still I think the notion that nobody would buy an Apple branded TV is silly.
An Apple branded TV makes a lot of sense to me - but Apple likes to disrupt and a new set doesn't disrupt anything. A new Apple television set will come when the content side is work out. Hardware / content / user experience - when those element are all under Apple's control, it will be announced. I suspect that the HW and SW is waiting in the wings as we speak. And I totally agree with the headline - a set is 'more in tune' with Apple than a set-top box, no matter how much most people on AI rationalise otherwise.
This is what I don't think others are getting. Sure, we know Apple for making the AIO units and having control of the entire process but it's that current TV sets aren't good (and they certainly haven't been profitable in and of themselves) but it's about how to access content and what content you access that is important.
I think Apple could make a lot more money by selling a digibox that 100 million people buy in 2 years than selling 10 million TVs over 2 years. The TV is, after all, just a display whose one big difference is the number of sizes that are needed to suit the HECs, bedrooms, boardrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. they sit in.
I'd much rather be able to have all the TVs in the house connected to boxes I bought from Apple without having to replace any TVs, than have to buy a new TV for each room just to get a useful UI, services, and content. I'm simply not going to put a large HDTV in the guest bedroom but I'd be fine if I could spend a couple hundred on a box for it.
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I'd much rather be able to have all the TVs in the house connected to boxes I bought from Apple without having to replace any TVs, than have to buy a new TV for each room just to get a useful UI, services, and content. I'm simply not going to put a large HDTV in the guest bedroom but I'd be fine if I could spend a couple hundred on a box for it.
Exactly. Completely crazy.
A digibox is a HW and SW solution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
Why stick with a set-top box when even in *this* segment, Apple can design and release a complete turn-key solution - hardware AND software?
Apple software running on someone else's non-Apple branded and non-Apple designed hardware makes no sense as a long-term strategy. It is not a solution. Treat the TV like any other device to be re-imagined. The "computer" itself, MP3 players, phones, tablets, and now TVs. Same deal. Just another device to re-make.
slow down.... take a breath, and understand that AppleTV is a Set Top box where Apple controls the HW and the SW.
Apple 'iMac' solution to TV the end game, but until then, AppleTV is the transition tool.
It's ghastly.
I actually think we will see both. The core product as a standalone that will integrate with say 75% of the content delivery features, and a premium screen package that's an all in one complete Apple TV product.
Apple isn't stupid, TVs are not $200 iPods and iPhones. They're still major appliances that people update when broken or maybe every 5-10 years. The majority of people are not going to toss a $1000 product for a more expensive product $1000+ product to watch the same Walking Dead or Monday Night Football overnight. Regardless of the unicorns, Apple pixie dust involved, the content is still the content, and the big dollars are still real money. In fact I see more people interested in getting their content on portable devices (iPads and laptops) than on big screens these days anyway, but that's a whole other story.
The only way that Apple is coming out with an actual "TV set" (and by the way, they're not), is if it is simply the next iteration (or replacement) of the iMac.
Originally Posted by blackfrog
Dear Appl Insider. Have you TRIED entering comments from an iPhone?
It's ghastly.
Did you switch to the mobile site?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
This is what I don't think others are getting. Sure, we know Apple for making the AIO units and having control of the entire process but it's that current TV sets aren't good (and they certainly haven't been profitable in and of themselves) but it's about how to access content and what content you access that is important.
And a box in the 'middle' will confuse people.
Quote:
I think Apple could make a lot more money by selling a digibox that 100 million people buy in 2 years than selling 10 million TVs over 2 years. The TV is, after all, just a display whose one big difference is the number of sizes that are needed to suit the HECs, bedrooms, boardrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. they sit in.
I'd much rather be able to have all the TVs in the house connected to boxes I bought from Apple without having to replace any TVs, than have to buy a new TV for each room just to get a useful UI, services, and content. I'm simply not going to put a large HDTV in the guest bedroom but I'd be fine if I could spend a couple hundred on a box for it.
Apple's solution for this: iPad 4 with AirPlay sold to 200Million People (not 1 per house, but 1 per person), and AppleTV on the TVs you haven't converted (at $99, it's cheaper than the Monster Cables you connected your TV to your HT system).
I really dont' think 1 box per house works well in Apple's model. Apple is about 'personal' service (you iPad doesn't even have multi-profiles for different users). A central digibox is more complex than your average household head wants to spend time with.
Really think about it. It's Apple's DNA to
1) manage your content at the iOS device/AppleID
2) eliminate all 'intermediate boxes [hard and soft and corporate] between you and your content
Apple's ideal model is to move everything into an
1) aTV/iTunes ordering model
2) deliver content over the Internet bandwidth
3) control all of this through a single interface (AirPlay or Apple Remote...Siri Enabled)
The gotcha in all this is the 'OTA/Live' stuff. Can I get HDTV quality feeds of live NFL,NBA, NCAA competitions? How will this be monetized? What about Local News (some people do watch it... and I did like to watch my kid on TV when she was on the sports highlights or the Edu Cable Access Channel).
This and the recalcitrance of the Cable corps makes me think that a True Apple TV (TV with iOS) and the Apple TV box, will be 'cable aware' and will Siri enable your cable/OTA watching experience. It's a long game position (much like DRM was needed to get music into iTunes), that eventually will die out as Apple strikes disintermediation deals with Content Creators who then bypass the cable companies and sell direct to the Internet using Apple/Amazon/Google/Netflix methods of steerage. This bypasses Classic Advertising, Networks, Cable companies, which will take a lot of time to disintermediate.