Apple Interested In Acquiring German Television Maker Loewe? [Updated: Company Denies]

[richman555]

Being an American, I am not familiar with the brand, but after looking at their website these guys make really nice TVs.

All I can say is if this happens, Sony and Samsung look out!

 

[Bemopti123]

Don't worry, son.

You're probably way to young to realize this, but Apple has never released a product that only came in yellow.

Historically, when Apple released a product that was only available in one color, it would have been white, black, or silver.

Oh, and televisions have color balance controls. If you want your TV to look blue like some ******* 9000K computer screen circa 1992, sure, go right ahead.

I do not think that the other poster actually referred to the video output being a tinge yellowish....I think he/she was referring to the physical color of the TV being yellow....Like many premium cars+sports cars from Germany do come in that yellow DUCK color.

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I think he's being sarcastic.

Most German brands (VW, Mercedes, Bosch, Miele, etc) have a reputation for being the absolute best you can get.

In fact, Jony Ive worships Braun. There would be no "Apple" style without the influence of German Functionalist design, Dieter Rams and the Ulm School.

Actually believe it or not, my stepfather, may he RIP, fought in the Russian front in WWII and he told me while he was a proud German that their products or later panzers were extremely well crafted when working but when they broke down in the battlefield forget it. Moreover, he also mentioned later production machine guns that were fidgety when they were used in muddy battle fields while Soviets just produced things en masse, easy to repair.

He also owned 7 Mercedes Benzs and he said that they had the WORST reliability record to him. That he would NEVER purchase another Benz. Once he did offer to purchase a BMW to my mother but she was not interested.

Loewe TVs, perhaps like older Telefunkens of the 1970s and 1980s, are state of the art in Europe and once they were distributed well enough in America.
Older German audio is reliable.....

But as always, your mileage will vary. Like not all Japanese products are reliable nor durable, the same rule applies to German goods. There is always a threshold of what is acceptable in manufacturing....5% defective is common. If you want to reach 1% defect rate, you either handcraft the goods with several quality checks and expect to pay a massive premium for that.

 

[kalsta]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

Ha, ha… Since when??!!!

I think he's being sarcastic.

Most German brands (VW, Mercedes, Bosch, Miele, etc) have a reputation for being the absolute best you can get.

In fact, Jony Ive worships Braun. There would be no "Apple" style without the influence of German Functionalist design, Dieter Rams and the Ulm School.

I wondered if it was irony too… but there's no sign of a wink smiley or anything!

I buy Bosch tools and appliances when I can afford to (depending on what it is) and have found them to be very reliable. They have been getting into cheaper tools in recent years which would all be manufactured in China like everything else (which I guess they have to do to compete in today's world). And you can bet Apple won't be manufacturing their TV's in Germany.

 

[Nostromo]

Buying Loewe would make sense. (means: "Lion" in English, by the way. Obviously, there was no company for sale with the name of mountain lion )

It's a quality company, and Apple could use its know-how.

Still a bit puzzled how a TV unit will fit into the Apple product line.

Could it be both a computer monitor (for working up close and high pixel density) and a TV (with larger pixels, for viewing from afar) at the same time?

That would be quite interesting, as flatscreens have been working well at one resolution only so far.

 

[JAT]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

Loewe is an excellent TV. That's actually a move towards the hyper-expensive Apple TV everyone is assuming will show up.

Racist much?

"German" isn't a race.

Most German brands (VW, Mercedes, Bosch, Miele, etc) have a reputation for being the absolute best you can get.

Fancy, expensive, and pretentious, yes. Reliable, not so much.

 

[Dr McKay]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

Really? I thought Germans were known for their ruthless efficiency, beer, large sausages, blonde beer maidens, and getting up at 3AM on vacation to put their towel on the best sunloungers by the pool.

 

[Noctilux.95]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

Really?
You should drive a BMW, or shoot pictures with a Leica camera.

 

[wizzerandchips]

The Geman Cars are desirable, but the quality lacks quite a bit and then they very expensive to fix.

As are Japanese cars...but why are we talking about German cars for germanys quality abiliites...German products are renowned for their quality....but their cars have had to compete....hence their quality has suffered over the years....I have owned many Mercedes....and the most reliable for me so far....japanese...as for German hifi and electronics ? They have alway omitted style and art...same goes for apple...that's the comparison

 

[lil' brudder]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

Tell that to my 26-year-old Audi that still runs like a champ.

 

[wizzerandchips]

Really?
You should drive a BMW, or shoot pictures with a Leica camera.

Leica camera....now we are talking!

 

[Fandongo]

TV laced with brushed aluminum: Vomit.
=)

 

[wizzerandchips]

I dont want a yellow TV

I like the colours they offer...similar to the nano colours...looks like a good quality product to me....anyone own a Miele item ? Proof in the pudding.

 

[justperry]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

What
You clearly have no idea, they make stuff to last and overall of a much better quality than American stuff.

Poor? They are the people who make QUALITY products not just electronics, cars that you see (not because they look gorgeous) they function and last longer than most american products

They are great in machinery.

I think he's being sarcastic.

Most German brands (VW, Mercedes, Bosch, Miele, etc) have a reputation for being the absolute best you can get.

In fact, Jony Ive worships Braun. There would be no "Apple" style without the influence of German Functionalist design, Dieter Rams and the Ulm School.

Siemens is another brand which is huge, especially in Industrial automation, probably the biggest in the world.

Ha, ha… Since when??!!!


I wondered if it was irony too… but there's no sign of a wink smiley or anything!

I buy Bosch tools and appliances when I can afford to (depending on what it is) and have found them to be very reliable. They have been getting into cheaper tools in recent years which would all be manufactured in China like everything else (which I guess they have to do to compete in today's world). And you can bet Apple won't be manufacturing their TV's in Germany.

The better Bosch tools are the blue colored Pro line.
But, I myself prefer Makita, better still but also quite a bit more expensive but last you a lifetime.


Germans are especially good in Machinery and industrial automation, I am an electrical engineer myself and German machines are in the top.
What they are not good in is the electrical and mechanical documentation/wiring diagrams, it's much better than it used to be but still much more complicated than it should be.
All my former colleagues would complain about them.


This news does make sense, just buy an existing company for a nickel and a dime (for Apple) and use that as an easy gateway to release your own Tv's.
But it also means it will probably take another year before they even release one.

 

[winston1236]

Poor? They are the people who make QUALITY products not just electronics, cars that you see (not because they look gorgeous) they function and last longer than most american products

Whats an american product? americans buy everything, including apple products, from china.

 

[OceanView]

Many German products are over engineered (except VW cars) and are built well. However, when they do break, it is often complicated and expensive to repair.

 

[kiljoy616]

I guess my deal is would this even be a 1080p or could they take it up to the next level say to 2k or more. I mean its possible apple has an idea to take us to a whole new hight of resolution and control. Not saying I believe 2012 will be the iTV era but late 2013.

Well lets see if they buy the company before anyone starts to get all excited about nothing.

 

[Apoxie]

To claim that Germany manufacture low quality products is like saying the earth is flat. Its simply wrong, if you go for the best german brands.

Maybe a few countries can rival the german engineering quality, but that still places Germany firmly in the top 3 in most product categories.

 

[Mavrack]

Terrible idea. Germans are notorious for the poor quality of the products they manufacture.

Du dumm shieße... Was welt du tun leben im?

On another note, knowing how Apple always has a beautiful premium design in their products, they probably bought this company to help them figure out to incorporate Apple's design ideas in the television set.

 

[BC2009]

As I've shopped for TVs I've realized the reason I'd most like an Apple TV is because of how simple it would be.

Like all their other products... No crazy number schemes for their models... Just a couple different ones, all perfectly good. No different models made for different stores. It would just make shopping for one simple and easy... And I'm game for that.

So I don't know about all the other jazz they're going to include. But I want one because I know it'll be good, and I don't have to rack my brain or spend hour researching that.

I've been in the market for a 1080p LED-backlit TV from Samsung. I checked their website and they make LCD, LED-backlit LCD and Plasma televisions. For just the 55-inch LED-backlit models I discovered they had like 20 models I could choose from. When I compared them all that changed was a minor difference in contrast ratio or whether or not it had WiFi or how many HDMI ports. I was completely at a loss in trying to determine which was the right one. What is worse is that your local stores don't carry all these models and if you look on craigslist for a used one nobody knows the exact model number they have so you can't tell what you are buying.

I decided to wait it out instead. Either I will pickup an Apple television when they come out or I will buy a Samsung LED after the 4K televisions that are entering market start driving down the price o the 1080p screens.

 

[ziggyonice]

To the naysayers: remember MacRumors thread #500 (release of the iPod)?

iPoop... iCry. I was so hoping for something more.

So... would you prefer us making fun of you now, or later?

You see, Apple has entered into a few markets now that people didn't expect. From computers, to digital music players, to retail stores, mobile phones, tablets, cloud computing and now televisions. And every time — there were the naysayers.

• Wouldn't it suck to be the person that dissed the iPod? And then got it totally wrong?
  
• Or to be the one to believe that Apple Retail stores were doomed from the start?
  
• How would you feel to be the guy that said the iPhone was a disappointment? That the iPhone couldn't be nearly as big of a deal as the iPod was?
  
• Won't it be fun knowing you were the guy that "didn't get" why iCloud would be helpful?
  
• Want to be the person that called the iPad "utter garbage?" And that Apple should stop making "toys?"

So — to the naysayers— you are the annoying ones. The misfits, the troublemakers. You are the ones that we look back on and laugh. So thanks for making these threads hilarious to remember a few years down the road.

As in the words of WildCowboy:

It'll be interesting to look back on this thread in a few years, much like we do today with the famous Thread #500, and see how people's gut reactions match up with reality.

And I, for one, will look back at all the naysayers of Apple's industry-changing television, and laugh.

 

[justperry]

Du dumm shieße... Was welt du tun leben im?

On another note, knowing how Apple always has a beautiful premium design in their products, they probably bought this company to help them figure out to incorporate Apple's design ideas in the television set.

Be careful what you said there


Agreed, it will make things easier for Apple than just do it themselves.
And, Loewe may also have patents.

 

[kiljoy616]

To claim that Germany manufacture low quality products is like saying the earth is flat. Its simply wrong, if you go for the best german brands.

Maybe a few countries can rival the german engineering quality, but that still places Germany firmly in the top 3 in most product categories.

Low quality, whom ever says that is trolling.

I would not hesitate to buy, their tv are incredible and they even give you a free iPad 3 with the purchase of a tv. Great iPad interfaced.

Youtube has some nice video on their tv.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAkPjn9VW0

 

[AppleScruff1]

Being an American, I am not familiar with the brand, but after looking at their website these guys make really nice TVs.

All I can say is if this happens, Sony and Samsung look out!

Do you think Apple will compete on price or do you think consumers will pay double for the same size set because Apple makes it?

 

[Acerone]

I always thought of Loewe TV's as high end... If this is true look out...

If Apple does come out with a new line of TV's they better follow that up with a Blu-Ray player... And may I suggest Apple purchase Oppo before someone else does...

 

[kockgunner]

Loewe's product line is very interesting because of the different designs with different stands to suit different environments. However, if Apple buys the company, they will probably only have one TV in which case, what's the point of buying Loewe, besides their expertise?