Steve Jobs Told Employees in 2010 That Apple Would Not Release a Television

[MacRumors]

According to a passage from Yukari Kane's upcoming book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, in 2010, Steve Jobs told Apple executives that the company would not be releasing a television. Business Insider relays the exchange which occurred at Apple's 2010 "Top 100" retreat for Apple executive, managers and employees.

The attendees of the Top 100 retreat would hear presentations of Apple's business and often be exposed to new Apple products. The contents of the meeting are supposed to remain secret. The last day of the meeting, Jobs offered to answer any questions, and someone asked if Apple was going to release a television next.

Yukari says "Jobs didn't hesitate." He said, "No."

"TV is a terrible business. They don't turn over and the margins suck," said Jobs. (Unlike iPhones which are wildly profitable and replaced every two years, a TV gets replaced every 8 years, and isn't all that profitable.)

Jobs reportedly went on to say that he did want to control the living room, but that the current Apple TV set-top-box would remain a hobby until Apple was able to get the the content it needed.

There was apparently some disagreement amongst attendees if Jobs was sincere in his comments. Back in 2003, Jobs had told reporters that he didn't feel that Apple could add much value to mobile phones. The iPhone was announced four years later. Meanwhile, it's been three years since this statement, and other reports, including Steve Jobs' biography attributes comments from Jobs that he had "finally cracked" the difficulties in building an Apple television set. Meanwhile, Tim Cook also has made comments more recently that TV remains an "intense interest" for Apple, though that may refer to enhancing the Apple TV set-top-box experience than releasing a full-scale television.

Article Link: Steve Jobs Told Employees in 2010 That Apple Would Not Release a Television

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

If the can figure out the right formula the will.

 

[ironsienna]

"Steve Jobs Said that Apple Would Not Release a Television"

Jeez..I admit I feel guilty for thinking when I saw the title: "Have they put an iPhone with FaceTime in his grave"???

 

[Count Blah]

And he also intimated that a 7" iPad would be a no go. How did that end up?

The only constant is change.

 

[ChrisTX]

He's right about the turnover rate of TV's. Even with 4K TV being the new tech, I just don't have any reason to replace my 3D Samsung any time soon. They're not as easy to transport. It has become a fixture of sorts in my home.

 

[Defactomonkey]

I would like to see Apple TV and boxes like it (Roku, Chromecast) replace cable television as the world's primary television source. The nut to crack is going to be Internet. Right now cable companies have a strong lock on it which needs to be broken.

 

[spyguy10709]

In 2003, Steve Jobs said that Apple would "never" make a Tablet, PDA, or Phone.


4 Years later, He was introducing a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a portable internet device.

7 Years later, he invited us all to see his latest creation.

Lets see where his legacy takes us, before we listen to what he directly said.

Source - http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/Steve_Jobs_No_Tablet_No_PDA_No_Cell_Phone_Lots_Of_iPods

 

[Oletros]

If the can figure out the right formula the will.

The right formula is independent of the hardware, you can have the same formula with an ATV

 

[haruhiko]

And he also intimated that a 7" iPad would be a no go. How did that end up?

The only constant is change.

Instead, Apple released a 7.9" tablet which has a much bigger screen than 7" 16:9 tablets.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

And he also intimated that a 7" iPad would be a no go. How did that end up?

The only constant is change.

Very well. It ended being a much larger (almost) 8 inch tablet that has a much better screen ratio than the rest.

EDIT: Oops. I see haruhiko above me has already said this.

 

[Oletros]

Instead, Apple released a 7.9" tablet which has a much bigger screen than 7" 16:9 tablets.

Well, Jobs said that anything below 10" was not right so it doesn't matter if the iPad mini is 7" or 7.9"

 

[Chalty669]

Just let apple take over the whole cable experience. I don't mind paying the cable company top dollar for content, but their existing experience sucks. Much like the telephone companies did in 2006. I wouldn't mind signing a contract for a $650 apple tv. Also when I had issues with something I go to apple not Time Warner Cable. They just don't know anything about how to treat a customer. Additionally if I'm paying $8 for netflix and get so much different content. Then why then do I pay the cable company $150 and get nothing in return. Why can't I just say "man I haven't seen the goonies for years" and just bring it up and watch it right there. After all I'm paying such a premium price for cable.

 

[BCWorld]

Well there you have it folks, the man has spoken....

 

[mikecorp]

well not exactly

He said he brake the code!

They will change tvs as we know them.

I recently purchase philips Elevation TV and have to say what a peace of craB.

Apple will make the best multimedia entertaining centre.

 

[JAQ]

Jobs was saying that making and selling screens is a sucker's game. There are a dozen companies already doing that, and the profit margins suck. Apple doesn't have anything in its pocket to improve on rectangles that display moving images. They don't even make them for their own computers: they subcontract that out.

Where Apple can innovate (and profit) is on the devices that feed images to those displays. They have the technology and content leverage to do something different in that part of the market, and that's where they're going to keep focusing. Let people buy their dumb displays from Magnabox, Hibachi, Suny, and Samesong ... and their content and content-management system from Apple.

 

[proline]

And he also intimated that a 7" iPad would be a no go. How did that end up?

The only constant is change.

Apple never did release the kind of 7" tablet Jobs was talking about. They released an 8" one. For those of us who know that area is proportional to the square of the dimensions that's a huge difference of around 30%. When it comes to Jobs quotes about unreleased products, word choice and context are everything. People who don't understand that can't interpret them.

----------

Well, Jobs said that anything below 10" was not right so it doesn't matter if the iPad mini is 7" or 7.9"

He was very clearly talking about the 7" highly rectangular tablets of that time period. His prediction that 7" tablets would fail as they have no benefit over large phones stood the test of time. None has ever been sold at a profit. Now at the time there were no 8" tablets, so he wasn't talking about those.

 

[Oletros]

He was very clearly talking about the 7" highly rectangular tablets of that time period. His prediction that 7" tablets would fail as they have no benefit over large phones stood the test of time. None has ever been sold at a profit. Now at the time there were no 8" tablets, so he wasn't talking about those.

I think that people has really shot memory.

Commenting on avalanche of tablets heading to market. Just a handful of credible entrants. Almost all use 7" screen, compared to iPad at nearly 10" screen. 7" screen is only 45% as large as iPad's screen. Hold an iPad in portrait view and draw a horizontal line halfway down. What's left is a 7" screen...too small. There are clear limits to how close elements can be on the screen before users can't touch accurately. We believe 10-inch screen is minimum necessary.

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/18/steve-jobs-criticizes-7-inch-tablets-says-10-inches-minimum/

Apart that your claim is totally wrong, by the way.

 

[richman555]

The only way I can see Apple making a TV where it might be profitable for them would be to acquire Sony (consumer electronics divisions).

An Apple/Sony Television would be interesting, not to mention all of Sony's technology patents.

Just food for thought.

 

[CausticPuppy]

And he also intimated that a 7" iPad would be a no go. How did that end up?

The only constant is change.

There is no 7-inch iPad. There's one that's about 8 inches though.

 

[apolloa]

According to a passage from Yukari Kane's upcoming book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, in 2010, Steve Jobs told Apple executives that the company would not be releasing a television.

NO **** SHERLOCK!

Is this Mac Rumors attempting to backtrack on all the stupid endless vapourware rumours you've plastered endlessly on this site about an actual Apple Television set, and the name iTV?

Oh and.....

According to a passage from Yukari Kane's upcoming book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, in 2010, Steve Jobs told Apple executives that the company would not be releasing a television.

Is just yet another slap in the face example to all those on here that apparently believe Apple only does what's best for the worlds problems... rather than face the reality that it actually only ever does what is most profitable to them, pure and simple.

 

[Oletros]

The only way I can see Apple making a TV where it might be profitable for them would be to acquire Sony (consumer electronics divisions).

An Apple/Sony Television would be interesting, not to mention all of Sony's technology patents.

Just food for thought.

Sony's television division was split off

----------

According to a passage from Yukari Kane's upcoming book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, in 2010, Steve Jobs told Apple executives that the company would not be releasing a television.

NO **** SHERLOCK!

Is this Mac Rumors attempting to backtrack on all the stupid endless vapourware rumours you've plastered endlessly on this site about an actual Apple Television set, and the name iTV?

Gene Munster still will ask in the next quarter meeting

 

[akuma13]

The only way I can see Apple making a TV where it might be profitable for them would be to acquire Sony (consumer electronics divisions).

An Apple/Sony Television would be interesting, not to mention all of Sony's technology patents.

Just food for thought.

How can that be food for thought when that's never going to happen?

 

[ChrisH3677]

Next, not ever

If MacRumors has quoted right, the attendee asked "if Apple was going to release a television next."

So, Steve could honestly answer no.

He knew things like revamped iPhones, smaller iPads, and iWatch, and whatever else we don't know, were what Apple was working on "next".

So, he didn't mislead anyone, not does this mean Apple aren't working an a TV, and nor does it mean they weren't working on a TV then.

 

[ogun7]

Jobs was saying that making and selling screens is a sucker's game. There are a dozen companies already doing that, and the profit margins suck. Apple doesn't have anything in its pocket to improve on rectangles that display moving images. They don't even make them for their own computers: they subcontract that out.

Where Apple can innovate (and profit) is on the devices that feed images to those displays. They have the technology and content leverage to do something different in that part of the market, and that's where they're going to keep focusing.

I totally agree with you, Apple likes to disrupt product categories and leverage its existing services and products to advance their ecosystem. This quote from Uncle Jobs sums up all the problems with the TV business. Heck, at this years CES several Chinese OEM's have displayed panels they're about to bring to the American market.

 

[2457282]

I love my Apple TV. I think that giving it an app store and adding more content is really all it needs. As for the screen? Well, Apple hasn't even released a new monitor in years. Maybe it will finally release a 4k display soon. But to me, I would think that keeping the brains in a separate box (aka the Apple TV) makes more sense than building it into the display that does not get replaced often. I think that adding more memory and opening up the Apple TV (aka App store) would be more profitable for Apple.

The only question is when will Apple be able to break the link for the content from cable service. I have cut my cable, so all the new content that Apple has added to the ATV is worthless because it has to be linked to a cable subscription. If Apple is able to break that, the ATV will explode in sales, IMO.