Apple Could Sell 13 Million Televisions According to Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty

[MacRumors]

Last week, Tim Cook shared that television was an area of "intense interest" for Apple, stoking the rumor mill once again that the company will come out with a TV at some point. Today, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty shared results from a proprietary survey of 1,568 U.S. heads of household from September. Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt shares some of the results of the survey.

11% of respondents said they would be "extremely interested" in buying an Apple-branded TV set, which translates into 13 million units in the U.S. alone. 36% said they would be "somewhat interested," which could translate into another 43 million units.

The 47% who were either "extremely" or "somewhat" interested is more than twice the 23% who said they were interested in buying an iPhone and the 21% who were interested in an iPad before either of those products were released.
Respondents who owned at least one Apple device were nearly four times more interested in buying an iTV that those who did not.

46% of respondents were willing to pay over $1,000 for an iTV and 10% were willing to pay over $2,000. On average, respondents were willing to pony up $1,060, a 20% premium over the the average $884 they paid for their current TV set.

Further, Huberty lays out three strategies for Apple to fix television. The company could become a "full-blown virtual cable service provider"; partner with existing pay-TV carriers and replace their set-top box with its own; or Apple could "bundle the TV set with its existing Apple TV" box.

Of course, there have been years of speculation about a potential Apple TV. Following the release of Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, in which Jobs said he had "cracked" television, rumors have taken on a more fervent tone.

Article Link: Apple Could Sell 13 Million Televisions According to Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty

[nippyjun]

It's funny when the analysts pull numbers out of thin air

[gmanist1000]

It all depends on the price.... and quality...

[ThatsMeRight]

An Apple television... meh...

A more advanced Apple TV (the box), yes!

[rmwebs]

Cant see it myself. Why would people pay for a TV just to buy content from iTunes, and stream airplay content to their TV? Instead you can buy a better tv, cheaper, and just get an Apple TV box.

Even if they add apps, it's still not a huge selling point for TV's. It's really not in the same place the mobile phone or tablet markets were in. TV systems are VERY different around the world.

AppleTV hasnt really worked so far, and slapping an app store on top of it really isnt going to make it any better.

(also for what its worth, you can get a RaspberryPi hooked up to your TV for $25, with Airplay, XBMC, Browsing, Apps, Netflix, etc).

Edit: Almost forgot - Microsoft has already started eating into the AppleTV's market with the Xbox - including this update today: Microsoft notices Xbox gamers, adds 43 new apps

Edit2: Another thought: You have to currently Jailbreak the AppleTV if you dont want to be stupidly restricted to Apples select few video formats. The rPi (and Xbox, and every other TV addon) can do pretty much any video format.

[H2SO4]

Originally Posted by gmanist1000

It all depends on the price.... and quality...

Exactly what I was thinking. It'll start at the 'cheap' range with the 4" screen priced from £529.00 and then go to the iTV S at £5290.00 per set.

[basesloaded190]

An analysts best tool.

[waloshin]

How is 1500 a representative sample of the whole US?

[skate71290]

13 million + 1

[monkor]

I still don't get why I would want this product. Replace my existing Comcast /FiOS box with an Apple one that features a much more user-friendly experience and I'll be interested. But if it's considerably pricier than the competitors stuff (which isn't even unbearable, it's just a sluggish interface) that's of a very similar quality, then count me out.

[extricated]

They should survey MacRumors members.
Results would be much different.

[Shrink]

Considering Apple's pricing patterns, $1,000 will buy you the shipping container.

If you actually want a TV in the container, I would guess it will be A LOT more!

[920R]

Originally Posted by waloshin

How is 1500 a representative sample of the whole US?

They are Heads of households. Which means they want an Apple TV but the wife will veto it.

[thelink]

Originally Posted by gmanist1000

It all depends on the price.... and quality...

Price? Quality? Lets get this straight. This is apple we're talking about here.

[lazyrighteye]

Originally Posted by ThatsMeRight

An Apple television... meh...
A more advanced Apple TV (the box), yes!

It does seem odd... I don't see much, regarding hardware, that Apple could introduce to improve television sets. Functionality? Tons of opportunity. But it would seem the set top box concept would/could suffice. But I'm sure they're marketing department will convince me otherwise. B@stards!

[bushido]

they'll get rid of hdmi, come up with their very own standard to make it all "easy" and revolutionairy again. who needs an xbox etc right? #sarcasm

just improve the current apple tv box with a better UI, apps and siri

cant picture an actual tv taking off, at least not worldwide. theyd have to negotiate (sp) with all those content owners for each country seperately and that would be a real pain in the ass especially with all those EU regulations. we cant even get netflix or sth like hulu here cuz the government thinks its foul play or some bs

[portishead]

If it's an actual television, it's going to flop big time. Well flop in terms of sales, it still might be awesome. They need to just do a box that will work on existing tv's.

[gugy]

Originally Posted by nippyjun

It's funny when the analysts pull numbers out of thin air

the sad part some people pay them and others believe what they have to say.

[frayne182]

Originally Posted by nippyjun

It's funny when the analysts pull numbers out of thin air

This!


where the flying bull hell do they get these numbers?

[writingdevil]

This is the infamous Katy Hubry who is, consistently, in the bottom 10% of Apple forecasts among pros and bloggers, compared to actual fiscal standings. I stopped reading when she "shared her strategy" for an Apple TV success.

[kirky29]

Originally Posted by frayne182

This!


where the flying bull hell do they get these numbers?

I personally predict 9 million.

[frayne182]

Originally Posted by writingdevil

This is the infamous Katy Hubry who is, consistently, in the bottom 10% of Apple forecasts among pros and bloggers, compared to actual fiscal standings. I stopped reading when she "shared her strategy" for an Apple TV success.

I stopped reading when I read she

[G4DP]

Originally Posted by thelink

Price? Quality? Lets get this straight. This is apple we're talking about here.

Very true, the price will be sky high and the quality will be in the gutter. 42" Yellow LG screen anyone?

[Ballis]

If its going to have the limited format support of the ATV, supporting only apples own formats, Id be hard pressed to get one. With pretty much every other brand supporting MKV and xvid streaming, Im not sure apple will succeed with their current limitations

[coolosxapps]

Where do I sign up to become an analyst? Those guys are great at pulling numbers out of their ass, and they get paid to do it!