Foxconn chief says company is preparing for Apple television - report

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Foxconn is preparing to manufacture Apple's anticipated television set, the manufacturing company's chairman reportedly said in a speech.

The comments allegedly made by Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou were summarized on Friday by China Daily, an English-language daily newspaper in China with a circulation of more than 500,000, in a report discovered by How To Arena. Gou reportedly said that his company is "making preparations" for an Apple television, but development or manufacturing has not yet started.

Friday's report referred to the device as the "iTV," a common moniker for the unofficial Apple television. It also repeated rumors that the device will feature Siri and FaceTime video calling, along with an aluminum construction, though details of those purported characteristics were not credited to Gou.

The Foxconn chairman did, however, allegedly say that his company's recent deal with Sharp was made in preparation for a new Apple television. Foxconn bought a 10 percent share of Sharp in March for $808 million, allowing Sharp to stabilize its money losing LCD business.

After the deal was announced, it prompted speculation that the new Foxconn-Sharp partnership would be an opportunity for both companies to produce panels for Apple's anticipated television set. Specifically, it was suggested that Apple could be interested in using Sharp's technology to produce Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) panels for its forthcoming television set.

HDTV


One report in April claimed that Apple considered buying a stake in Sharp before Foxconn eventually inked its deal. Foxconn's partnership will utilize Sharp's state-of-the-art factory that opened in Sakai, Japan, in 2009.

Sharp began production of IGZO displays this March, though the initial run is limited to just three sizes: 7 inches for tablets, 10 inches with 300 pixels-per-inch for high-definition notebook PCs, and 32 inches at a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels for LCD monitors. IGZO technology will allow Sharp to produce thinner and more powerful LCDs.

Rumors of an Apple television picked up last year, when it was revealed that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he felt he had "cracked" the secret to a simple and elegant television set. Analysts have been divided in speculating whether such a device will launch this year or at some point in the future.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 58
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member


    I wonder how credible this is, given that Foxconn officials have rarely (never?) tipped Apple's hand before.

     

  • Reply 2 of 58

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ankleskater View Post


    I wonder how credible this is, given that Foxconn officials have rarely (never?) tipped Apple's hand before.

     



     


    Only tow words of his are quoted:  "making preparations".  That could mean just about anything.

  • Reply 3 of 58
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


     


    Only tow words of his are quoted:  "making preparations".  That could mean just about anything.



     


    Considering this is a translation, noting which words are quoted may not be meaningful?

  • Reply 4 of 58
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ankleskater View Post


    I wonder how credible this is, given that Foxconn officials have rarely (never?) tipped Apple's hand before.

     



     


    Its call control leaks.  Btw the Apple TV DOES NOT look like a big Apple thunderbolt display. Leaks are going to happen so its better to control them and even better, leak things to send the competition off track.


     


    what worries me is Sharp is also suppose to supply ipad3 displays and its not going very well for them, the yield is horrible.

  • Reply 5 of 58
    Only tow words of his are quoted:  "making preparations".  That could mean just about anything.

    Considering this is a translation, noting which words are quoted may not be meaningful?

    Good point. We don't really know much of anything about what he actually said.
  • Reply 6 of 58
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member


    '... but development or manufacturing has not yet started'


     


    Does the 'development' part refer to Apple or Foxconn?  A rather important distinction IMHO with regard to taking this seriously or not.


     


    Maybe we need a more technically accurate translation.

  • Reply 7 of 58
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Here it comes.

    The rape of the television industry...

    God bless Apple for using their influence to actually improve, and not stagnate, the industries that they become involved in.

    May those that have little faith become enlightened and aware of the tasty chocolately goodness they will bring to consumers throughout the entire world, and lead them not into stupidity and short-sightedness...

    So help me Steve.

    Amen.
  • Reply 8 of 58


    Panasonic just reported a 10.2 billion dollar loss on their TV business and decline in sales by 40%. Samsung spun off their display unit. Sony is floundering. Sharp isn't doing well either...This is a very low margin business with a race to the bottom. Why would Apple want to get involved? A TV is not a bi-annual gadget. 

  • Reply 9 of 58
    simba37simba37 Posts: 13member


    Oh boy, here we go again.


     


    Gene Munster must be creaming his pants right now just reading this in his office. Seeing is believing. I wouldn't expect anything until 2013 or 2014.

  • Reply 10 of 58
    mac-usermac-user Posts: 110member


    Even if Apple made a tv, won't need a stand like it does for monitor screens (like the one in the pict), a television doesn't stay behind a keyboard on the table.

  • Reply 11 of 58
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Panasonic just reported a 10.2 billion dollar loss on their TV business and decline in sales by 40%. Samsung spun off their display unit. Sony is floundering. Sharp isn't doing well either...This is a very low margin business with a race to the bottom. Why would Apple want to get involved? A TV is not a bi-annual gadget. 

    Why?

    I'll tell you why.

    Look.

    Up in the sky!

    It's a bird. It's a plane.

    It's fucking Apple, dude!
  • Reply 12 of 58
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member


    ... I hit reply instead of quote ... Again!!  see below

  • Reply 13 of 58
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    Panasonic just reported a 10.2 billion dollar loss on their TV business and decline in sales by 40%. Samsung spun off their display unit. Sony is floundering. Sharp isn't doing well either...This is a very low margin business with a race to the bottom. Why would Apple want to get involved? A TV is not a bi-annual gadget. 



    Well playing Devil's advocate ... one could say the mobile phone and tablet industry are the same, all either losing money or scraping by ... except for Apple.  Who knows, perhaps they can re invent yet another industry.  I have no idea how but if they enter (big if I know) I'd have to assume it would be a reinvention in a way that will make Google and Samsung rush off and copy it.  

  • Reply 14 of 58


    AirPlay, Bonjour, iCloud, iTunes, Siri and iOS games gives them a lot of infrastructure to do some things other TV manufacturers will have a hard time matching.


     


    I'd like to see them extend AirPlay so that the TV screen can be used as an additional display for a laptop, and then they should release a version of AirPlay for Windows. 

  • Reply 15 of 58


    Translation:


     


    We are prepared IF and WHEN Apple decides to enter the TV market.

  • Reply 16 of 58


    Well, I see the advantages of an Apple TV.   I have my Mac mini connected to my TV In my bedroom and the text is so bad I can barely read it.  I would like a Thunderbolt display but I can’t justify the cost to myself and I need something more than just a display.   However, if the new Apple TV set or iTV can be a Thunderbolt display with a TV tuner, DVR capabilities, and all the features of the current Apple TV for about $1000, I’m in.  I would not need it to be larger than a 32.” 

  • Reply 17 of 58
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member


    My only wish is that AppleInsider stops using this awful, stupid graphic for all it's "Apple is going to make a TV" stories. 


     


    If Apple does make a TV, it won't be 22", and it won't be as thick as an iMac or an Apple Cinema display, both of which have a lot more going on under the hood than a TV has.  It won't have AV inputs and thus will be even more minimal than today's TV's which are already far thinner and have less inside the box than this POS.  


     


    Seriously, this stupid, unrepresentative, ugly-ass image must have been used on at least two dozen stories over the last year or so.  


    Does no one know how to do a Google image search or use Photoshop at Apple Insider? 


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    HDTV


  • Reply 18 of 58

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bigmanofds View Post


    Well, I see the advantages of an Apple TV.   I have my Mac mini connected to my TV In my bedroom and the text is so bad I can barely read it.



     


    Do you use HDMI?  It should be as sharp as any other monitor.

  • Reply 19 of 58
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    Panasonic just reported a 10.2 billion dollar loss on their TV business and decline in sales by 40%. Samsung spun off their display unit. Sony is floundering. Sharp isn't doing well either...This is a very low margin business with a race to the bottom. Why would Apple want to get involved? A TV is not a bi-annual gadget. 



     


    The conventional wisdom is that they will do with TV's what they do with other categories.  Computers (other than Apple computers) also have razor thin margins and are also in a race to the bottom.  Same with phones, same with a lot of things.  Apple's strategy is to enter markets like that and offer a superior product that cleans up and masters all the problems previously associated with the technology providing a clean, high quality user experience that's literally "worth paying for."  


     


    A hypothetical Apple branded TV wouldn't be cheap, would have thick margins, but would sell anyway due to it's inherently better value proposition.  Instead of being a confusing, cheap piece of junk that you will never even figure out how to work and will require you to buy thousands of dollars worth of confusing cheap junky add-on products, it will be a single, easy to use, rather expensive, high quality item that you will keep for years and years and wonder how you ever did without it once you have it in your possession.  


     


    SSDD

  • Reply 20 of 58

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    My only wish is that AppleInsider stops using this awful, stupid graphic for all it's "Apple is going to make a TV" stories. 


     


    If Apple does make a TV, it won't be 22", and it won't be as thick as an iMac or an Apple Cinema display, both of which have a lot more going on under the hood than a TV has.  It won't have AV inputs and thus will be even more minimal than today's TV's which are already far thinner and have less inside the box than this POS.  


     


    Seriously, this stupid, unrepresentative, ugly-ass image must have been used on at least two dozen stories over the last year or so.  


    Does no one know how to do a Google image search or use Photoshop at Apple Insider? 



    Why do you figure it won't have AV inputs?

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