I expect to be surprised, but its hard for me to imagine a TV from Apple that would be so great that I'd pay a premium for it. I assume its got an Apple TV baked in, and will come with ala carte TV/Cable channel subscriptions -- rather than basic/premium packages you get now from cable companies -- which force you to pay for channels you never watch. THAT would be revolutionary, but why the special hardware?
And you think that Apple will be able to negotiate a price cut from the cable companies based on what leverage?
So lets see how this goes down.
Apple: Your current customers send you $120 per month for their channels only some of them they want. Our proposal is that you allow them to pick channels, you "fairly" price those channels. And the vast majority of your customers start sending you significantly less than $120 a month.
Cable Company: So you are suggesting I give up most of my profit.
Apple: But your customers will like you more and they will buy my TVs.
Cable Company: Not interested.
Apple: But some customers will sign up for a package of cheap channels who aren't already your customer.
Cable Company: I basically have a near monopoly in the areas I serve and me and the other cable companies currently have about 70% of American households as customers. 10% of American households are super broke and will never be able to buy anyting. So even if you delivered the ENTIRE remaining 20%, you wouldn't increase my customer base enough to cover any significant decrease in the monthly payments I get. I think this conversation is over. Call me when you have a proposal that involves my customers sending me MORE money each month. Then we can talk.