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Apple Confirms One Million Apple TVs Sold
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I would totally get one, but I don't have an HDTV in my dorm room.
Dude, seriously.... pick up a PS3 or Xbox.
Congrats to Apple on the sales. The $99 price point certainly helps those numbers.
Honestly though, the new version seems like a kick in the pants if you constantly need iTunes running on a machine in the house. I've got the old 40GB version, hacked so I can read music and video off SMB shares sitting on a timemachine. No need to rely on iTunes... and I wouldn't have it any other way. When will Apple finally do it right, and stop insisting iTunes or iPhoto runs in the background to share music/video/pictures?
For those considering something to watch shows or listen to music in the living room, consider Boxee. This Christmas, I bought a Boxee Box. Full 7.1 sound, 1080p, lots of content, and for me, with so much media sitting on an SMB share, an easy buy. Netflix has been confirmed to come to the unit soon, which is also a nice option.
It is just as quiet as my original AppleTV, but a lot cooler to the touch. Only annoyance has been the shipping of an RF remote with the unit. I ended up just buying a $13 remote, with a USB IR dongle, and programmed the harmony instead.
Honestly though, the new version seems like a kick in the pants if you constantly need iTunes running on a machine in the house. I've got the old 40GB version, hacked so I can read music and video off SMB shares sitting on a timemachine. No need to rely on iTunes... and I wouldn't have it any other way. When will Apple finally do it right, and stop insisting iTunes or iPhoto runs in the background to share music/video/pictures?
For those considering something to watch shows or listen to music in the living room, consider Boxee. This Christmas, I bought a Boxee Box. Full 7.1 sound, 1080p, lots of content, and for me, with so much media sitting on an SMB share, an easy buy. Netflix has been confirmed to come to the unit soon, which is also a nice option.
It is just as quiet as my original AppleTV, but a lot cooler to the touch. Only annoyance has been the shipping of an RF remote with the unit. I ended up just buying a $13 remote, with a USB IR dongle, and programmed the harmony instead.
I use mine all the time as well. I hope these sales figures encourage the networks to rent more of their TV shows, like FX, common guys!
My iMac isn't even in the same house as my ATV. It's in the backyard granny unit, and I have mine set to "wake for internet access". If my computers asleep, when I wake the ATV and search for music is will wake my iMac without me needing to go out there. Same for vice-versa. From the back, I can wake the ATV. I think you have to have an airport express or time capsule though, not sure. I wouldnt be able to use my set up at all if it weren't for the auto wake up.
I've had an ATV Classic, for several years and use it a couple/few times a week (if not just watching stuff on my iMac while others watch regular TV), mainly movies and TV shows converted through HandBrake. At the moment I don't see a huge appeal for the new one for me. I've checked out NetFlix's available streaming library at their web site and it seems too limited for me to get all excited about.
However, when it comes time that you can write apps for it, then I will be VERY interested in it, being a slightly-more-than-beginner in Objective-C right now.
However, when it comes time that you can write apps for it, then I will be VERY interested in it, being a slightly-more-than-beginner in Objective-C right now.
apple tv costs 156 US$ over here in europe. why is it so cheap in the US and so terribly overpriced in europe? does apple want to suck every euro out of us, just because we are not americans or is it just because they think we can't compare prices????
No disrespect ment, but the majority of my family lives in Europe. Whenever the come to the states to visit they bring near empty bags because they shop their butts off because EVERYTHING is cheaper, not just Apple products. We spend a day or two at every mall.
Don't your prices also reflect various taxes as well? Are there import expenses in there too? I could be wrong, but since Apple is a US based company, I think that import expenses get in there. (Not where it's made, where the company is thing.)
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That's right in most cases, most other apple products aren't priced all too differently in Europe compared to the US, if VAT, import taxes and fluctuations in the exchange rate are taken into account.
Different story for the apple tv though, for some reason it's priced much higher than in the US.
In the US I believe the atv and the airport express are priced at the same level, in the UK the atv is £20 more expensive than the airport express!
MacAddict1978 said:
That's right in most cases, most other apple products aren't priced all too differently in Europe compared to the US, if VAT, import taxes and fluctuations in the exchange rate are taken into account.
Different story for the apple tv though, for some reason it's priced much higher than in the US.
In the US I believe the atv and the airport express are priced at the same level, in the UK the atv is £20 more expensive than the airport express!
Sorta On Topic:
I'm loving my Apple TV that I got for Christmas. At first, I had trouble streaming with netflix, which is the main reason I wanted one. But I got a new hdmi cable, all is well! I guess my old one didn't have what it needed for HDCP. I'm glad it worked out, I hated using the Wii to browse Netflix.
Off Topic:
Thank You. My employer has had a bad couple of years, and I work with people who swear that the sales numbers are lies to justify our loss of bonuses and lack of pay raises. I cannot beat it into thier heads that they aren't sending out press releases for news outlets all over the world just to fool the 7,000 employees they have here in KY.
I'm loving my Apple TV that I got for Christmas. At first, I had trouble streaming with netflix, which is the main reason I wanted one. But I got a new hdmi cable, all is well! I guess my old one didn't have what it needed for HDCP. I'm glad it worked out, I hated using the Wii to browse Netflix.
Off Topic:
Thank You. My employer has had a bad couple of years, and I work with people who swear that the sales numbers are lies to justify our loss of bonuses and lack of pay raises. I cannot beat it into thier heads that they aren't sending out press releases for news outlets all over the world just to fool the 7,000 employees they have here in KY.
Not really - otherwise you'd never get quick first weekend sales numbers of new products because they would all still be returnable.
In general, for a manufacturer, the products are "sold" when they leave the manufacturer's loading dock. Most of the time this is to wholesalers or retailers (the channel) who then sell to consumers. Apple is somewhat different as they sell a lot of their product directly to the consumer. They also tend to do a very good job of keeping channel inventory low, so the 1 million number is probably pretty close to how many actually ended up in people's hands.
Apple TV App Store: Apple will wait for the right time
Agree. On one hand, Apple knows they will make $$$ millions instantly when they release an Apple TV App Store with thousands of apps. On the other hand, Apple is in absolutely no hurry to do so.
Why not? Because Apple TV is selling fairly well, and presumably users are renting and buying content. Also, every day, Apple TV is gaining mindshare at Google TV's expense. (Or is Google TV is failing all by itself?)
But I think there are a few more reasons why Apple can take its time with the Apple TV App Store. First, the more ATV apps available when the ATV App Store launches, the better. When Apple updates Xcode to allow for 3-way universal app development (iPhone/iPod touch, iPad, Apple TV) the race to develop HDTV resolution iOS apps will begin. Yet there is no "tipping point" minimum app count before the ATV App Store could open. Apple TV is already selling well enough to sustain itself just on the strength of its ease-of-use and Netflix / YouTube integration. Apps will simply accelerate sales.
Second, I think Apple may be waiting for would-be competitors to announce and/or release their competing TV app strategies. For example, if Google TV ever recovers from its poor launch, there may be an Android Market-like app store for it. There are rumors that Google has told its Google TV partners to avoid displaying their HDTV sets with Google TV built-in at CES. And CES is one of the most important consumer electronics trade shows.
And Samsung has already released their Internet@TV, which apparently can run widgets and/or native apps. These two would-be competitors have already made many mistakes. In public, with great fanfare, at trade shows and in TV commercials. And Apple knows that the moment the Apple TV App Store is rolled out, all its would-be competitors will be forced back to the drawing board. The more collective mistakes by the opposition, the better for Apple.
So, from Apple's perspective, it's best to allow the wannabes to first make their mistakes in public, then commit to flawed technology and strategies. They will be forced to re-engineer their products and admit that they were wrong, all of which is costly not only in development dollars but also in hardware partner confidence, consumer confidence, and consumer mindshare.
Sound fanboyish? Well look at recent history and you'll see it has been Apple's pattern. The MP3 player market was a free for all in 2001. Apple released iTunes first, then iPod 1.0 later that year. It took the competing MP3 makers years to figure out that iPod's key to success was iTunes. They thought it was just the shiny hardware and the clickwheel. Oops. They never recovered.
Then there was the smartphone market circa 2006. Palm OS and Windows CE (as Windows Mobile was called back then) were locked in a stalemate. BlackBerry was eating their lunch. Google's first version of Android was a near-perfect clone of BlackBerry. Apple announced iPhone in 01/2007 and changed the smartphone world forever. Google rushed back to the drawing board and pooped out an iPhone clone of Android (with the fatal violation of the Java license agreement baked in.) Just look at all the iPhone clones on the market now.
And then there was the whole braindead Windows tablet concept. For nine years, Microsoft kept flogging that same old dead horse. And every few years they did what they have historically done with failed new products. They renamed it, hyped it as though it were an all-new product, and threw millions of advertising dollars at the problem. Tablet PC, UMPC, HP Slate, etc. Microsoft was a big fish in its own small pond. Apple waded in, iPad became the giant fish, and the pond is getting bigger every minute.
So I think Apple is simply waiting for Apple TV competitors to fall into the various and sundry traps that await them. Google's current strategic problem was rushing Google TV to market before putting content deals in place. Google's fundamental, fatal error was trying to mash together too many opposites into Google TV. They hammered the square "computer complexity" peg into the round "TV simplicity" hole. And "lean forward" together with "lean back." And "personal computing" with "shared TV viewing." And who knows what other competitors will make the same mistakes?
Good, the more they sell the bigger the market for anTV app store!
Agree. On one hand, Apple knows they will make $$$ millions instantly when they release an Apple TV App Store with thousands of apps. On the other hand, Apple is in absolutely no hurry to do so.
Why not? Because Apple TV is selling fairly well, and presumably users are renting and buying content. Also, every day, Apple TV is gaining mindshare at Google TV's expense. (Or is Google TV is failing all by itself?)
But I think there are a few more reasons why Apple can take its time with the Apple TV App Store. First, the more ATV apps available when the ATV App Store launches, the better. When Apple updates Xcode to allow for 3-way universal app development (iPhone/iPod touch, iPad, Apple TV) the race to develop HDTV resolution iOS apps will begin. Yet there is no "tipping point" minimum app count before the ATV App Store could open. Apple TV is already selling well enough to sustain itself just on the strength of its ease-of-use and Netflix / YouTube integration. Apps will simply accelerate sales.
Second, I think Apple may be waiting for would-be competitors to announce and/or release their competing TV app strategies. For example, if Google TV ever recovers from its poor launch, there may be an Android Market-like app store for it. There are rumors that Google has told its Google TV partners to avoid displaying their HDTV sets with Google TV built-in at CES. And CES is one of the most important consumer electronics trade shows.
And Samsung has already released their Internet@TV, which apparently can run widgets and/or native apps. These two would-be competitors have already made many mistakes. In public, with great fanfare, at trade shows and in TV commercials. And Apple knows that the moment the Apple TV App Store is rolled out, all its would-be competitors will be forced back to the drawing board. The more collective mistakes by the opposition, the better for Apple.
So, from Apple's perspective, it's best to allow the wannabes to first make their mistakes in public, then commit to flawed technology and strategies. They will be forced to re-engineer their products and admit that they were wrong, all of which is costly not only in development dollars but also in hardware partner confidence, consumer confidence, and consumer mindshare.
Sound fanboyish? Well look at recent history and you'll see it has been Apple's pattern. The MP3 player market was a free for all in 2001. Apple released iTunes first, then iPod 1.0 later that year. It took the competing MP3 makers years to figure out that iPod's key to success was iTunes. They thought it was just the shiny hardware and the clickwheel. Oops. They never recovered.
Then there was the smartphone market circa 2006. Palm OS and Windows CE (as Windows Mobile was called back then) were locked in a stalemate. BlackBerry was eating their lunch. Google's first version of Android was a near-perfect clone of BlackBerry. Apple announced iPhone in 01/2007 and changed the smartphone world forever. Google rushed back to the drawing board and pooped out an iPhone clone of Android (with the fatal violation of the Java license agreement baked in.) Just look at all the iPhone clones on the market now.
And then there was the whole braindead Windows tablet concept. For nine years, Microsoft kept flogging that same old dead horse. And every few years they did what they have historically done with failed new products. They renamed it, hyped it as though it were an all-new product, and threw millions of advertising dollars at the problem. Tablet PC, UMPC, HP Slate, etc. Microsoft was a big fish in its own small pond. Apple waded in, iPad became the giant fish, and the pond is getting bigger every minute.
So I think Apple is simply waiting for Apple TV competitors to fall into the various and sundry traps that await them. Google's current strategic problem was rushing Google TV to market before putting content deals in place. Google's fundamental, fatal error was trying to mash together too many opposites into Google TV. They hammered the square "computer complexity" peg into the round "TV simplicity" hole. And "lean forward" together with "lean back." And "personal computing" with "shared TV viewing." And who knows what other competitors will make the same mistakes?
I looked all over and can't see how you sort (or show) TV shows by genre. Can you explain? Thanks.
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All your points are valid, but apple was first to Market with a smartphone app store - all others are still trying to catch up. I don't think they'll wait all too long to bring it to the apple tv.
It's a big risk to take to assume that all competitors are going to make mistakes, these are all capable companies. Just takes one to pull it off successfully in order for apple to play a secondary role in this emerging market.
SockRolid said:Good, the more they sell the bigger the market for an
Agree. On one hand, Apple knows they will make $$$ millions instantly when they release an Apple TV App Store with thousands of apps. On the other hand, Apple is in absolutely no hurry to do so.
Why not? Because Apple TV is selling fairly well, and presumably users are renting and buying content. Also, every day, Apple TV is gaining mindshare at Google TV's expense. (Or is Google TV is failing all by itself?)
But I think there are a few more reasons why Apple can take its time with the Apple TV App Store. First, the more ATV apps available when the ATV App Store launches, the better. When Apple updates Xcode to allow for 3-way universal app development (iPhone/iPod touch, iPad, Apple TV) the race to develop HDTV resolution iOS apps will begin. Yet there is no "tipping point" minimum app count before the ATV App Store could open. Apple TV is already selling well enough to sustain itself just on the strength of its ease-of-use and Netflix / YouTube integration. Apps will simply accelerate sales.
Second, I think Apple may be waiting for would-be competitors to announce and/or release their competing TV app strategies. For example, if Google TV ever recovers from its poor launch, there may be an Android Market-like app store for it. There are rumors that Google has told its Google TV partners to avoid displaying their HDTV sets with Google TV built-in at CES. And CES is one of the most important consumer electronics trade shows.
And Samsung has already released their Internet@TV, which apparently can run widgets and/or native apps. These two would-be competitors have already made many mistakes. In public, with great fanfare, at trade shows and in TV commercials. And Apple knows that the moment the Apple TV App Store is rolled out, all its would-be competitors will be forced back to the drawing board. The more collective mistakes by the opposition, the better for Apple.
So, from Apple's perspective, it's best to allow the wannabes to first make their mistakes in public, then commit to flawed technology and strategies. They will be forced to re-engineer their products and admit that they were wrong, all of which is costly not only in development dollars but also in hardware partner confidence, consumer confidence, and consumer mindshare.
Sound fanboyish? Well look at recent history and you'll see it has been Apple's pattern. The MP3 player market was a free for all in 2001. Apple released iTunes first, then iPod 1.0 later that year. It took the competing MP3 makers years to figure out that iPod's key to success was iTunes. They thought it was just the shiny hardware and the clickwheel. Oops. They never recovered.
Then there was the smartphone market circa 2006. Palm OS and Windows CE (as Windows Mobile was called back then) were locked in a stalemate. BlackBerry was eating their lunch. Google's first version of Android was a near-perfect clone of BlackBerry. Apple announced iPhone in 01/2007 and changed the smartphone world forever. Google rushed back to the drawing board and pooped out an iPhone clone of Android (with the fatal violation of the Java license agreement baked in.) Just look at all the iPhone clones on the market now.
And then there was the whole braindead Windows tablet concept. For nine years, Microsoft kept flogging that same old dead horse. And every few years they did what they have historically done with failed new products. They renamed it, hyped it as though it were an all-new product, and threw millions of advertising dollars at the problem. Tablet PC, UMPC, HP Slate, etc. Microsoft was a big fish in its own small pond. Apple waded in, iPad became the giant fish, and the pond is getting bigger every minute.
So I think Apple is simply waiting for Apple TV competitors to fall into the various and sundry traps that await them. Google's current strategic problem was rushing Google TV to market before putting content deals in place. Google's fundamental, fatal error was trying to mash together too many opposites into Google TV. They hammered the square "computer complexity" peg into the round "TV simplicity" hole. And "lean forward" together with "lean back." And "personal computing" with "shared TV viewing." And who knows what other competitors will make the same mistakes?
All your points are valid, but apple was first to Market with a smartphone app store - all others are still trying to catch up. I don't think they'll wait all too long to bring it to the apple tv.
It's a big risk to take to assume that all competitors are going to make mistakes, these are all capable companies. Just takes one to pull it off successfully in order for apple to play a secondary role in this emerging market.
Love streaming Netflix, but I love the hard drive on my first Gen. I see why apple dropped the hard drive though and I'm probably a minority in liking it. They make moves to move units. And they do. And I'm happier with their products than other tech companies.
Got one for Christmas as well. Generally pleased. Being resolution-capped at 720p is saddening. Airplay is pretty awesome but quirky. For example, it thought I'd be able to play videos via Safari over Airplay (there's an Airplay icon), but often only the sound comes through. Slideshows from iPhoto albums are also cool but again, 720p is meh.
Also, why in the !@#$ can't we AirPlay videos straight from the iPhone that were recorded w/ the iPhone camera app??!
All in all, neat device for 99 bucks. Anxious to see how it evolves further.
Also, why in the !@#$ can't we AirPlay videos straight from the iPhone that were recorded w/ the iPhone camera app??!
All in all, neat device for 99 bucks. Anxious to see how it evolves further.
A bit more complicated: When selling to end users, they have to take into account that there will be a certain percentage of returns (warranty returns still count because they are still sold). What they can't do is this: Apple can't do a deal with say PC World "we'll sell you 300,000 Apple TVs to make our numbers, and you don't have to pay any money yet, and you can return all you haven't sold at the beginning of the next quarter" knowing that this is ten times more than PC World will sell and most of the boxes will come back.
So today when the SEC will come down on you like a ton of bricks if you try to cheat, you are right. Ten years ago you would have been wrong.
Do you have any details for that? I remember that 1.5 million sales seemed very high to me, even with all the hype and hundreds of millions in TV advertisement, because between iPhone and Android phones and Blackberry I really can't see a reason why anyone would go and buy a Microsoft phone.
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1.5 million over 6 weeks is about 35,000 a day which doesn't sound too far fetched when there are around 300,000 iPhones and Android phones supposedly being sold each day.
Didn't you say you could trust Apple's numbers because "Apple is a publicly traded company."
Microsoft is also a publicly traded company so why don't you trust theirs?
I too ended up with an Apple TV for Christmas. I have a very Apple-centric house multiple Macs, an iPad and 2 iPhones. Airplay with the Apple Remote app is wonderful technology. Can't believe how simple it is to browse all my content on my iMac's iTunes library, using my iPad, and then play that content on my big screen. Or browse around You Tube on my iPad and play the clips on the big screen. If it's already this good, I can't wait for the next generation when Apple raises the bar even higher!
Same scenario here. My daughter was all "Thank you, Dad" - she and her husband both have iPhone 4s, and one of their daughters has a new iPod Touch. My son was a little dubious, until I showed him what it could do - I think he's now a believer.
