Rumors have, for years, circled around the possibility that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) would launch a full television as a new product line. The company has never made any announcements about such a product, nor have any reliable details ever been released.
Most of the information surrounding the Apple Television, or iTV, comes from a single analyst, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. The analyst correctly predicted the release of the iPad in 2010, and has since spent much of his research discussing the possibility of an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) television set.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may not be able to compete in a market place so saturated and price competitive, is the main arguments raised by opponents of an Apple TV. That same argument was, however, was used as a reason the company should not get involved in the mobile phone market in 2007.
The firm , if it is to be successful with a full television, needs to do to that market what it has done to the mobile phone market in the last five years. The iTV would need to be revolutionary, and iconic.It would need to appear as the kind of status symbol the iPhone was in 2007.
If any company can change the way people think about their televisions, it is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The firm has set the tone for most of the consumer electronics market in just five years. But Apple only began to imagine those changes ten years ago, with the launch of the original iPod.
The real question for Apple, is whether or not taking a risk on such a product is worth their while. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not in the business of revolutionizing the consumer electronics industry, it’s in the business of securing a 30% margin.
The company will not enter into the television market unless it can secure margins like this on hardware and on the content it offers. With the firm’s stock in the doldrums, early 2013 would be the perfect time to present the market with a new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) product.
Tim Cook has already said that it’s something the company is thinking about. And he regularly tells interviewers that the company is working on some revolutionary new products. It has been almost three years since the company released something the market has considered new, 2013 may be the year for change.
The iPhone was released in 2007, and the iPad in 2010, a 2013 release of an Apple TV set is certainly plausible. There is one thing certain about the way Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) releases new products; its only when the supply chain is there, and the costs are low enough that the firm will the firm begin to sell.
This is the reason the new iMacs and the MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch were not released until later on this year. A second certainty is that the ultra efficient Apple rumors industry will get strong indications of such a product months ahead of schedule.
An Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTV may arrive later on in 2013, but early 2013 does not seem like a probable release date. We have not yet seen strong indications from the rumors teams, and Munster has not yet presented anything compelling. A release in time for the holidays next year seems much more likely.
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