1080p refresh doubled Apple TV sales in 2012, 2.7M sold so far

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
The refreshed 1080p Apple TV has doubled sales of the device in the first half of 2012, as Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook revealed on Tuesday that 2.7 million units of the set-top box have been sold already in 2012.

In all of 2011, when the Apple TV did not see an update, the company sold a total of 2.8 million devices in the 12-month span. But the company is easily on pace to beat that, with 2.7 million sold through the first five months of 2012, Cook revealed in an interview at the D10 conference, where AppleInsider is in attendance (live coverage here).

Sales of the Apple TV in 2012 have been bolstered by a minor refresh of the product in March. The new model is based on the same iOS operating system as its predecessor, but sports a single-core A5 CPU that makes it capable of outputting 1080p high-definition video, improving on the 720p maximum output of the previous-generation model.

When the revamped 720p Apple TV was launched in late 2010, Apple reached sales of a million units in its first quarter. While the product has been relatively successful in a niche market, Apple has famously referred to the set-top box as a "hobby."

Speaking at D10 on Tuesday, Cook said that the television is an area of many people's lives that they are not pleased with. When pressed by journalist Walt Mossberg about whether Apple plans to release a full-fledged television set, as it is rumored to do, Cook unsurprisingly declined to talk about future products.

Cook 2


As for the currently available Apple TV box, Cook said that customer response and sales in 2012 have been "incredible" and "off the charts," but suggested the company has future plans in that market.

"We're going to keep pulling the string and see where it takes us," he said.



Visit AppleInsider's D10 archive for more of Cook's comments and ongoing coverage of the conference.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33

    Quote:



    "We're going to keep pulling the string and see where it takes us," he said.


     


     


    Keep pulling it Tim, keep pulling it!


     


    I love Tim Cook.

  • Reply 2 of 33
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Apples charts don't leave room for a mere doubling of sales?
  • Reply 3 of 33
    blackbookblackbook Posts: 1,361member
    Good news for Apple TV!
    Has anyone else seen those Samsung smart TV ads where it's apparent Samsung took every rumor for the Apple TV set and put it in their new "smart" tv?
  • Reply 4 of 33
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    blackbook wrote: »
    Good news for Apple TV!
    Has anyone else seen those Samsung smart TV ads where it's apparent Samsung took every rumor for the Apple TV set and put it in their new "smart" tv?

    Too bad they didn't take the more conceptual rumours like ease of use, fluid, and intuitive.
  • Reply 5 of 33


    All i want to see is for 20th Century Fox movies to be part of the iTunes in the Cloud, so purchased movies also includes X-Men First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

  • Reply 6 of 33
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member


    According to this site HDTV sales are around 250M a year and slowly growing.  Thing is, unlike phones which cost a few hundred and tend to be replaced every couple years, televisions cost thousands and are replaced maybe once or twice a decade.


     


    Anyway, lots of room for sales growth but a tougher nut to crack than phones.

  • Reply 7 of 33
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member


    Mark me down as 3 bought.  3 ATV 2s sold for $80 apiece, and 3 ATV 3s bought.  $20 for the peace of mind of a faster chip and better antenna is fine with me.

  • Reply 8 of 33
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by thomas040 View Post


    All i want to see is for 20th Century Fox movies to be part of the iTunes in the Cloud, so purchased movies also includes X-Men First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.



    I think that is one of the strings they are working on. A lot of that delay, same with the missing Warners movies, is that the studios signed exclusive deals with various networks and those deals include all forms of broadcast including digital streaming. And streaming is what happens with iTunes in the cloud if you have an Apple TV. 


     


    So either Apple needs to figure out a way to get those movies to not stream until the deals run out or convince the players to excuse that streaming as a contract violation at least for those that bought the movies prior to the start of the deal etc. 

  • Reply 9 of 33
    pt123pt123 Posts: 696member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by blackbook View Post



    Good news for Apple TV!

    Has anyone else seen those Samsung smart TV ads where it's apparent Samsung took every rumor for the Apple TV set and put it in their new "smart" tv?




    Ha, ha, Apple don't even have a product and it is being copied.

  • Reply 10 of 33
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member


    It sounds to me ("pulling the string") like Apple is going to continue feeling their way in this market, not really sure where the way in is. They are possibly waiting for the Internet to more fully take over media distribution, and which point the cable companies may be revising their business models anyway, giving Apple an "in."


     


    If Steve really did have some big insight about TV in his last months, Tim has apparently decided not to follow through with it.

  • Reply 11 of 33
    feynmanfeynman Posts: 1,087member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    According to this site HDTV sales are around 250M a year and slowly growing.  Thing is, unlike phones which cost a few hundred and tend to be replaced every couple years, televisions cost thousands and are replaced maybe once or twice a decade.


     


    Anyway, lots of room for sales growth but a tougher nut to crack than phones.



    Wasn't that also the cell phone market before Apple/the whole "Smart Phone" revolution? I remember when I had my original Moto Razor I was set for years and my next phone after that was an iPhone. Now I am hooked on the iPhone until the next revision! lol

  • Reply 12 of 33
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


     


    If Steve really did have some big insight about TV in his last months, Tim has apparently decided not to follow through with it.



     


    Or he decided not to tell the world at D10?  Nah...he also didn't just say they were going to double down on secrecy...

  • Reply 13 of 33
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    feynman wrote: »
    Wasn't that also the cell phone market before Apple/the whole "Smart Phone" revolution? I remember when I had my original Moto Razor I was set for years and my next phone after that was an iPhone. Now I am hooked on the iPhone until the next revision! lol

    Cell phone market yes, smartphone market no. Big difference
  • Reply 14 of 33
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    ...Speaking at D10 on Tuesday, Cook said that the television is an area of many people's lives that they are not pleased with...


     


    Many people's lives are negatively affected by the complicated TV controls, it seems. I pity those people. They are probably also struggling with washing machines, microwaves, elevators, cars, ATMs, vending machines, not to speak of PCs... Let's hope Apple will put them out of their misery.

  • Reply 15 of 33
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    According to this site HDTV sales are around 250M a year and slowly growing.  Thing is, unlike phones which cost a few hundred and tend to be replaced every couple years, televisions cost thousands and are replaced maybe once or twice a decade.


     


    Anyway, lots of room for sales growth but a tougher nut to crack than phones.



    120509_DisplaySearch_Worldwide_TV_Forecast_by_Technology.png


     


     


    The red line on this chart says nearly everything about the TV market that Apple needs to see.  Growth isn't increasing like with phones but cratered.  The increase in the developing world (with slim margins) was more than offset by decreases in the developed world (where Apple dominates).


     


    What is the core technology for HDTVs?  Find a reasonable answer to that and you might have reasonable insight into Apple's TV strategy.

  • Reply 16 of 33
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nht View Post

    What is the core technology for HDTVs?  Find a reasonable answer to that and you might have reasonable insight into Apple's TV strategy.


     


    Apple knows.

  • Reply 17 of 33
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    blackbook wrote: »
    Good news for Apple TV!
    Has anyone else seen those Samsung smart TV ads where it's apparent Samsung took every rumor for the Apple TV set and put it in their new "smart" tv?

    Yea ok, Samsung was able to implement all those ideas overnight. Apple isn't the only company with good ideas.
  • Reply 18 of 33
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post

    Yea ok, Samsung was able to implement all those ideas overnight. Apple isn't the only company with good ideas.


     


    Is there doubt Samsung implemented them in response to the rumors of an Apple television?

  • Reply 19 of 33
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Is there doubt Samsung implemented them in response to the rumors of an Apple television?



    Is there proof the rumors did not originate from Samsung?

  • Reply 20 of 33
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Is there doubt Samsung implemented them in response to the rumors of an Apple television?

    Plenty but I can only speak for myself. Samsung implemented technology that's already in use with devices such as the Kinect.
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