Apple Entering The Television Market?

cperdue · Jan 17, 2008

Ive heard rumors that Apple might be entering the LCD TV market as early as this summer. With Apple long overdue for an overhaul of all of their monitors, it makes sense that Apple might have something up their sleeve in regards to full LCD televisions.

Obviously their angle would be to include AppleTV in their televisions, as one integrated unit since "no one likes set top boxes."

Has anyone heard anything regarding this rumor? Thanks!

chatin · Jan 17, 2008

This would make sense for one reason : HP!

HP has a new adapter to compete with the :apple:

TV and has been selling Sharp with the HP moniker and custom HP remote.

Apple may craft a set by Ives the blows away the HP. I have the HP: uninspired junk!

gkarris · Jan 18, 2008

No, market's too saturated. They are concentrating on being a PART of it - :apple:

TV!!!

Sky Blue · Jan 18, 2008

is it MacWorld 2007 again?

combatcolin · Jan 18, 2008

Don't really fancy the idea of a thumping massive 50" BRILLIANT WHITE TV in my lounge thank you.

Plus a remote with only 1 button and a wheel that is so small your hamster will be able to hide it in its cheeks.

jdr70 · Jan 18, 2008

At first thought i was....

like no way. But now that i have sat here thinking about it, i think this would be a pretty cool move for apple.

Unspeaked · Jan 18, 2008

I think this makes perfect sense, and I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.

Think about it - it's not a huge leap, since they already market LCD displays for their computers. How much of a jump would it be to throw an HD tuner in there and sell them as consumer electronics? And, as the original poster said, it would be a logical integration with AppleTV.

Plus, we all know how much Apple looks at Sony for ideas and this would be just another market they could try to better them in...

MisterMe · Jan 18, 2008

Unspeaked said:
I think this makes perfect sense,

Um-m-m-m, no it does not.

Unspeaked said:
and I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.

...

Clearly, you have not been reading the papers--at least, not the business section. The market for flat panel TVs is a loser, particular for computer manufacturers. Back when Gateway was No. 1 in plasma screens, it still could not earn a profit and abandoned the market. Dell has struggled in this market. When was the last time you saw an HP TV. The top seller of flat screen TVs is Vizio, which is not a real company. Ölevia is another no-name brand which sells a large fraction of flat panel sets. The mainline consumer electronics manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp are hanging in there, but they continually drop prices to remain competitive.

There is no business case for Apple to enter the TV market. Selling each unit at a loss hoping to make it up in volume makes a funny joke, but it is a poor business model. Apple is soaring because it is very smart. Getting into the TV set business is dumb. Apple will not do it.

speakerwizard · Jan 18, 2008

i think they will be forced to, like with the iphone, if they didnt make the iphone, ipod sales would eventually dwindle to mp3 phones, same with video, appletv and actual tvs.

cperdue · Jan 22, 2008

Alot of people have posted on my different threads about this topic with surprisingly little insight or thought in their comments. You're essentially slapping Apple in the face if you really think they'd get into the LCD market with ONLY televisions.

Apply this concept to the rumors and results for any of the other products Apple has released in the last 10 years. When the iPod came out there were other mediocre MP3 Players on the market, and if you applied the same logic, you would say "there are other products in this niche and Apple doesnt need to venture into this area." Or look at the phone market (yes I know its been referenced in this and other threads quite a bit). If you used the same logic with the iPhone, it would have made no sense for Apple to enter the television market.

Apple is an innovator. They see existing markets and create products that drive their own sales because they have things that other products cannot offer. If Apple were to enter the television market, their television would not only include AppleTV, but a fully integrated OS, possibly touchscreen just to up the ante, a premium sound system, and a seamless integration with ALL of apple's other devices, perhaps automatically when you came in range.

Now that would be a big step, so a smaller step would be to include AppleTV in their Cinema Displays, and do alot of their development and testing there before really entering the TV market. Just imagine 5 or 6 years from now if there was a PREMIUM, integrated TV from Apple. What do you think the product development path would have looked like to get to that end result?

Apple is famous for creating products that somehow make your life easier with incredibly complicated products (yes thats a compliment). That is much more of an art than the "im going to make a flat screen and dump it in a best buy" type of logic path.

If you're all Apple fans who frequently post on forums such as this, give Apple more credit than you're giving them, and when a question is asked, dont act impulsively; really think about it before dumping a paragraph of incoherent rambles that are relatively pointless.

Cheers.

Unspeaked · Jan 22, 2008

MisterMe said:
There is no business case for Apple to enter the TV market. Selling each unit at a loss hoping to make it up in volume makes a funny joke, but it is a poor business model. Apple is soaring because it is very smart. Getting into the TV set business is dumb. Apple will not do it.

MisterMe, I suggest you subscribe to cperdue's newsletter.

MisterMe · Jan 22, 2008

cperdue said:
...

Apple is an innovator. They see existing markets and create ... a fully integrated OS, possibly touchscreen just to up the ante, a premium sound system, and a seamless integration with ALL of apple's other devices, perhaps automatically when you came in range.

...

I'm guessing that you have never actually seen a touchscreen monitor.

gkarris · Jan 22, 2008

MisterMe said:
I'm guessing that you have never actually seen a touchscreen monitor.

I kinda fancy the idea of watching movies with fingerprints and smudges on the screen.

(just gets back from helping someone with the copier who coughed in his hands in the middle of using the touchscreen - ew.....)

The next cinema displays will probably add TV "support" buy putting in an HDMI port in addition to DVI...

combatcolin · Jan 22, 2008

Going with Mister Me on this one, Pioneer recently decided to abandon the "mid range" market and go "high end"

They were making 100,00 plasma sets a year and could not make a profit.
Sony make 1,00,000 and only make a small profit.

Now a small touch screen iMac style computer for the kitchen on the other hand.....

MisterMe · Jan 22, 2008

Unspeaked said:
MisterMe, I suggest you subscribe to cperdue's newsletter.

Do you have a link?

WriterAtTheSea · Jan 22, 2008

MisterMe said:
Um-m-m-m, no it does not.
Clearly, you have not been reading the papers--at least, not the business section. The market for flat panel TVs is a loser, particular for computer manufacturers. Back when Gateway was No. 1 in plasma screens, it still could not earn a profit and abandoned the market. Dell has struggled in this market. When was the last time you saw an HP TV. The top seller of flat screen TVs is Vizio, which is not a real company. Ölevia is another no-name brand which sells a large fraction of flat panel sets. The mainline consumer electronics manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp are hanging in there, but they continually drop prices to remain competitive.

There is no business case for Apple to enter the TV market. Selling each unit at a loss hoping to make it up in volume makes a funny joke, but it is a poor business model. Apple is soaring because it is very smart. Getting into the TV set business is dumb. Apple will not do it.

I tend to agree... Apple is not going to waste their time with television. What would be the advantages to that?

By the way... LOVE the Hamlet quote. That's my dogs name!

Unspeaked · Jan 22, 2008

I don't agree on the touch-screen thing, necessarily, but I do agree that Apple would not release just any old TV. It would be heavily integrated to AppleTV and possibly take things even further - in a broad sense, the iMac itself isn't far from an Apple branded TV with internet capabilities (I bet there's a small handful of folks who don't even own televisions and watch all their video content on a Mac).

As for the profit thing, this is Apple we're talking about - they can charge twice as much as their competitors (or even more) and the product would still be sold out.

Is a TV really more far fetched than Apple Hi-Fi was?

MisterMe · Jan 22, 2008

Unspeaked said:
I don't agree on the touch-screen thing, necessarily, but I do agree that Apple would not release just any old TV. It would be heavily integrated to AppleTV and possibly take things even further

What you are talking about is a Mac mini with a TV tuner. Way back in the day, Apple sold a Mac with integrated TV. Apple tends not to backtrack.

Unspeaked said:
(I bet there's a small handful of folks who don't even own televisions and watch all their video content on a Mac).

Those people are called "college students." They live in very confined spaces. For them, watching TV on their computers is as much necessity as it is convenience.

Unspeaked said:
As for the profit thing, this is Apple we're talking about - they can charge twice as much as their competitors (or even more) and the product would still be sold out.

Enroll in an economics course and study "indifference curves." High prices do not necessarily translate into high profits.

Unspeaked said:
Is a TV really more far fetched than Apple Hi-Fi was?

Apple has done both and neither were particularly successful.

cperdue · Jan 24, 2008

MisterMe said:
I'm guessing that you have never actually seen a touchscreen monitor.

Always focusing on obscure details with a certain lack of creativity. I guess you said the same thing about a cell phone whose interface was entirely touchscreen dependent?

Obviously Apple wouldnt make you get off the couch and touch the screen every time you wanted to change channels, or type in a web address. And I hate tablet PC's as much as the next person. But if this TV was the center of the living room, imagine uploading photos onto it and manipulating them with your hands in front of your family, or drawing on the TV with your kids so its like a coloring book. The creative ways in which an all-encompassing living room media center could touch our lives is pretty endless.

It would probably be wise for you to stay away from app'ing for a creative dev. position at Apple. Just my thoughts, /shrug.

combatcolin · Jan 24, 2008

cperdue said:
Aor drawing on the TV with your kids so its like a coloring book.

Teaching your kids its ok to pretend to paint on a £££$$$ giant touchscreen TV WILL have a tiny little negative effect when sidi child is "playing" paint with a neighbours tv and whatever the little darling can use as "paint".

surferfromuk · Jan 25, 2008

Apple are very nearly there already - it's truly inevitable - the only question is do they have the sense to make a 'proper job' out of it and spin it off as a separate product because you see ;

A 24" iMac is literally just 18" away from being a 42" LCD TV.

All it needs is ;

1) Integrated TV tuner (should be standard by now - just buy elgato and do it!)
2) Front Row to mirror current Apple TV functionality ( easy)
3) Apple class DVR (shouldn't be a major problem)

I think the only obstacle to this is the remote control.

My personal feeling is that the current Apple TV remote should evolve to behave like a wii controller with point and click as well as it's current button set, but as well there should be an iPhone or iPod touch can also have a 'Apple TV control' application which allows full control.

This also solves Apple's 'gaming presence' problem in the living room.

All you need do is setup the 'boot preferences' to 'TV' and you'd never know the difference.

I actually think a lot of music studios and design houses would buy a 42" iMac just to work on!

This approach means that there is very little risk and very little expense in 'trying it out'

There's lots of room for some real innovation here but I haven't even touched on those possibilities yet.

Consultant · Jan 25, 2008

I guess you heard it in the same place with a picture of a PowerBook G5 in an elevator?

combatcolin · Jan 27, 2008

That's no normal lift, that's Willy Wonka's Glass Elevator!!

zap2 · Jan 27, 2008

I doubt it

The TV market is all about specs...your software does very little for you in that market...

surferfromuk · Jan 27, 2008

zap2 said:
I doubt it

The TV market is all about specs...your software does very little for you in that market...

Have to disagree. Just look at any premium TV - it's all about the graphics processing engine.
Buying an LCD TV is a minefield - if I could simply buy an Apple one knowing it's going to be the best experience I can get it'd take an incredible amount of risk out of it. The problem with most LCD TV's is you can buy something claiming to be 1080P and 42" but it could be rubbish even at expensive levels. This is why the Bravia is doing so well since it is an assurance of quality - and why there is a substantial premium on it. I don't know about the USA but in the UK premium LCD TV's are in excess of $4000.00 and that premium's not for panel size.

Question is could Apple create an incredible graphics processing engine without a couple of years R&D?

Apple Entering The Television Market?

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