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Roku is currently a better platform IMO, but their CEO is clearly anticipating ATV gaming, which will blow Roku out of the water.

Well, then, Apple needs to put the latest-and-greatest, dual-core (not single-core) A7+ chips in there. Playing almost console-quality(!) titles like XCOM: Enemy unknown is a painful experience on anything below A6 (and it isn't very good on A6 either). This means we'll rarely see high-quality titles on current ATV's, if they at all receive third-party app support.
 
Err... it is?

Given any number of £30 - 50 devices in the UK (Chromecast, Roku boxes, Blu-ray players) would provide access to Netflix and a host of other free streaming services such as iPlayer for a fraction of the cost, and most of them with a better UI to boot?

That's an odd definition of a pretty good deal, to be blunt.

I have no idea about the chromecast but blue ray players have horrible Ui's when it comes to things other than playing bluerays and is super slow and unresponsive.
 
I would never buy any streaming device. When I pay for something, I want something tangible in return which is not heavily reliant on the Internet and my download quota. I prefer a physical copy instead of DRM and region restrictions, which I refuse to accept and will not support. I control and decide where to play, no one else. I pay I play my way. Plus I prefer Blu-Ray, but not downloading 40GB per movie. Hell even the iTunes movies are not BD quality either, so why would I use their service?

I can buy a BD movie, make my own backup copy with no region restrictions, no DRM, play where and when I want, no downloads required, and have the original disc for a backup and BD quality as well. So why would I use the Internet route when Im paying more for less and I have to obtain it myself?

People use the internet route because it's a lot easier. You probably won't see it this way because your routine is clearly well established, but it sounds like you go through a lot of trouble to maintain your desired degree of "control."

In today's world, convenience demands a high premium.
 
How does he know whether Apple loses money?

I have a hard time believing it anyway.

Apple reuses A5s with a defective core by disabling it and ending up with a single-core A5. Those CPUs are virtually free since they'd otherwise be wasted. This practice is known as product binning and is a great way of producing low-cost products using scrap from more expensive products lines (in this case iOS devices).

The rest of the components seem really inexpensive to me. Small plastic case, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas, 8GB NAND, small power supply... I doubt the cost of all those surpasses $99, in fact it probably doesn't surpass $50.

iSuppli estimated those components cost $45 in 2010. Now it's pretty safe to think most have gone in down in price, especially those 8GB of NAND (the most expensive component back then).

I'd like to know based on what maths he believes Apple is taking a loss, because to me it looks like yet another high-margin product.

You ever go up a ski lift and see those signs "not responsible for accidents"? Gullible people believe that, no different here, give this mouthpiece and he will say all sorts of things that are non fact based and people will just follow along like lemmings.
 
Apple TV (outside the US) is basically a bridge between someone's MacBook content and their TV.

I agree with Mr Roku man. Don't use it for anything else. But others may have different tales.
 
I've got both. Roku3 has some cool features, but the GUI is awful, as such, I seldom use it. The headphone jack in the remote is the best feature.
 
Hey, Roku dude: how about bringing your fabulous device to other countries in the world first, before talking high and mighty about how your product is better and more successful than that of your competitors?
 
Apple TV Profit Margin?

The first thing I wanna know after reading this is what's Apple's profit margin on the Apple TV? Could it really be in the red?

So I googled a bit and found an old Mac Rumors article:
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/05/new-apple-tvs-component-cost-pegged-at-64/

They pegged a $64 BOM back in 2010. While key components like the SoC will likely rise in cost as they iterate, process improvements and economies of scale should maintain a reasonably static cost to manufacture.

So what the hell is Roku's CEO talking about? It looks like Apple is enjoying a ~30% profit margin.
 
I'll have to agree here. I own the latest model myself and I barely use it other than airplay my stuff on the RMBP to my TV, and occasionally it rotates my travel photo collection in the background when friends come visit.

The movies are way overpriced, Netflix is SOO slow on loading and anything else just doesn't compare to, say, a DirecTV package (real TV).

If Apple decides to turn this around this year, I hope they got all "holes" covered this time. It ain't gonna be easy, but its Apple after all, they're masters in surprising their customers, aren't they...
 
Number of Apple TVs in my house: 3. Number of Rokus: 0. So who is losing money again?
I have 1 Apple TV and 2 Rokus and I use the Rokus far more. Apple TV is largely a one-trick pony: AirPlay, which in a sense is a video-out cable (without the cable) for your iPhone or iPad, which makes Apple TV very much an iOS "accessory".

I also have a Chromecast. I've used it twice. Completely useless.
 
I'm lost here, I have never used my Apple TV with an iPad, what would you do with it that you cannot do direct to the TV with the remote?

I used it a couple weeks ago to play the game sketch and guess. Used AirPlay mirroring to push the display to the big screen. Worked really well too as the interface displayed on the TV was slightly different than what was displayed on the iPad (only showed people what they needed to see).

----------

The first thing I wanna know after reading this is what's Apple's profit margin on the Apple TV? Could it really be in the red?

So I googled a bit and found an old Mac Rumors article:
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/05/new-apple-tvs-component-cost-pegged-at-64/

They pegged a $64 BOM back in 2010. While key components like the SoC will likely rise in cost as they iterate, process improvements and economies of scale should maintain a reasonably static cost to manufacture.

So what the hell is Roku's CEO talking about? It looks like Apple is enjoying a ~30% profit margin.
Wouldn't that 30% be gross margin? Unless you're assuming no other costs than estimated BOM?
 
Apple TV is largely a one-trick pony: AirPlay, which in a sense is a video-out cable (without the cable) for your iPhone or iPad, which makes Apple TV very much an iOS "accessory".

Nevertheless, AirPlay is vastly inferior to cabled HDMI / VGA output, even that of the new Lightning adapters. (Unless you stream Apple-native videos, of course, where the original file is accessed and decoded by the ATV itself and not the iDevice.)

There is only one strong point in AirPlay mirroring: in my tests, it proved to be more reliable than doing the same via Miracast (I've tested this on my Nexus 7 2013 and Nexus 4, both running 4.4 KitKat.)
 
That's funny about 30 if my friends own an Apple TV and I am the only one to own a roku ( and Atv) and that's only to use plex

Apple do need to get an AppStore on it already..

Yep if Apple adds an App store and Plex is allowed, it's goodbye Roku for me.
 
I used it a couple weeks ago to play the game sketch and guess. Used AirPlay mirroring to push the display to the big screen.

Yup, for non-action / driving games like the above-mentioned guess games, the lag (according to my own, controlled measurements, 130-150ms) isn't annoying.

The same lag, however, makes playing fast-paced action games unplayable. Heck, even the about 80ms lag introduced by the new wired Lightning adapters make pinball games unplayable.
 
Pretty sure there are plenty of people with Apple TV who don't have an iPad. I doubt that Apple make a loss on this device, probably Roku just not being able figure out how Apple makes them so cheap.
 
im thinking its perhaps the exact opposite. ive yet to see the interview that these quotes come from but was watching older ones on youtube and hes always asked when roku will be crushed by the big boys. yet roku seems to be doing very well.

would think its in many ways built up frustration.

If Roku was actually doing "very well", those comments would never have been uttered.
 
Pretty sure there are plenty of people with Apple TV who don't have an iPad. I doubt that Apple make a loss on this device, probably Roku just not being able figure out how Apple makes them so cheap.

This. The reason Apple can make a profit on the AppleTV is that they use their own home brewed A5, which they get at cost. Due to economies of scale, Apple also gets far better deals on flash memory and other components. It kills Roku's margins that they can't do the same.
 
Rally?... I've never heard of them.
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Speaking at the inaugural Code/Media event held by technology website Re/code (via CNET), Roku CEO and founder Anthony Wood called the Apple TV "a money loser" for Apple, liking the product to an accessory for the iPad and questioning why Apple would want to sell more units of the device. Wood's remarks come as Apple is said to be preparing a new version of the Apple TV that will integrate with Comcast's network to enable a streaming TV service for users. Wood also commented on Amazon's upcoming set-top box debuting next month, as well as overall competition in the set-top media box market: The CEO also went on to tell the crowd that sales of the Roku doubled after Apple dropped the price of the Apple TV from $249 to $99 two years ago. Wood's comments are notable given that the Apple TV reportedly generated $1 billion last year, which was revealed by Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company's 2014 shareholder's meeting.

Roku refreshed its set-top box line with three new models joining its flagship Roku 3 last September, and also introduced a $50 HDMI streaming-stick to compete directly with Google's Chromecast and the Apple TV. Despite the Apple TV's growing popularity, however, a report last August from Parks Associates indicated that the Roku has proven to be more popular than Apple's set top box, as 14% of U.S. broadband households were said to be using streaming media boxes.

Apple is expected to launch a new Apple TV sometime in the near future, with some rumors pointed to a refined set-top box that may include gaming and cable box-like capabilities in addition to the aforementioned streaming TV integration.

A report from The Information
also added details to the forthcoming device, claiming that it will feature a dramatically overhauled interface, which will blend TV listings with apps and video from the web, with Apple asking iOS game developers to make their titles compatible with its new product so that users can play games on their TV using iOS devices as controllers.

Article Link: Roku CEO Calls Apple TV a 'Money Loser', Says Product is 'Essentially' an Accessory for iPad
 
The first thing I wanna know after reading this is what's Apple's profit margin on the Apple TV? Could it really be in the red?

So I googled a bit and found an old Mac Rumors article:
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/05/new-apple-tvs-component-cost-pegged-at-64/

They pegged a $64 BOM back in 2010. While key components like the SoC will likely rise in cost as they iterate, process improvements and economies of scale should maintain a reasonably static cost to manufacture.

So what the hell is Roku's CEO talking about? It looks like Apple is enjoying a ~30% profit margin.

Considering this was the 2010 price of these components and the design has been refined since then I would say the BOM is probably significantly less than this now. Apple are probably making around 20% net profit after other costs which is smaller than the margins on their other products but still reasonable for a device which is essentially a vehicle for selling iTunes content.
 
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