The situation in the US regarding content is huge.  Cable companies bundle services to hide annual double-digit increases.  Network TV companies buying up niche channels so they can create trading barriers and raise fees.  And ROKU, Apple, Google, Boxee, etc., making agreements with Netflix, Hulu, sport leagues, movie channels, and the like so that they can collect on those, while selling the monthly service for $10 or less.      

I think Apple being in the TV business is about the alignment of the planets, not the weather in Denmark (or anywhere else).  Google TV versus Apple TV?  $40B cash versus $60B cash.  OEM (Google today have minimal overhead) versus product and distribution?  Wow, the numbers are mind-boggling!        

But any consolidation model creates niche opportunities for those who are wise and nimble enought to exploit them.  An example that comes to mind is an old motorcycle company from the UK.  Wonder if you will be able to buy an Apple frame to put on your Samsung?    

I wouldn't get my hopes up to high about a dedicated TV set from Apple. I guess it could be more like airplay licensing to other TV manufactures just like the sound systems with integrated airpaly. But it's all guesswork so time will tell. 

If Apple does come out with a TV set, my prediction is that it will be very much tied into iTunes (ie. a huge iTunes screen mostly) won't play nice with non-Apple products, have crappy audio (compared to B&O's tv offerings), and, the horror: have a super glary screen behind a full-front glary piece of glass.

TripEnglish wrote:

Here's who should be really worried about Apple making a television: cable & satellite providers. Apple wants the revenue streams associated with content distribution. Gillette will never make the highest end razor, just the one that moves the most cartridges. 

 

TripEnglish wrote:

 

Here's who should be really worried about Apple making a television: cable & satellite providers. Apple wants the revenue streams associated with content distribution. Gillette will never make the highest end razor, just the one that moves the most cartridges. 

 

Apple most likely will not sell a television.  What is more likely is several TV manufacturers will have Apple TV installed in the televisions they sell. Samsung will probably be first with Sony and others to follow.  Apple stores are not large enough to sell the various sizes of TVs that people would want.  AppleTV will be open to developers who can develop special video apps and Apple can take a 30 percent cut of the profit.  It will be like iTunes or iBooks is today.  Expect to see an AppleTV app store.  Apple, after having to deal with music companies and telephone companies around the world would not want to deal with the myriad of cable and satellite operators of which many are state owned.  Sony and others are doing this type of thing on a limited basis with TVs getting content from the internet.

I would hope that Bang and Olufsen have inbuilt AppleTV in all their TVs as soon as it is announced.  Didn't Tue have a visit with Phil Schiller at Apple?

I could possibly be wrong.  However Apple is a very software driven company.  They would make much more money selling content instead of the TV.  They are the world's largest music store because both PC and MAC users can buy music through iTunes.  With the upcoming iCloud and IOS5 software, you will be able to buy all the music and video you want without a PC.  AppleTV could work this way also.

Apple sell a 30" monitor and a 27" imac in store , it's not much of a stretch to have 40-50-60 inch tv's too ( on the wall , they won't take up much physical space ) , in fact the new apple store shop layout uses ipads instead of signs nowadays .

I predict Apple TV's that will blow everything else away. 

Apple have always been a hardware AND software company ( that's what separates them from everyone else ) , they have always strived to control the entire user experience , what could be more natural than an AppleTv ? 

And this time it won't be a hobby....

If they do or they don't, likely they won't tackle things like integration and they certainly won't jump in to the high end audio market.  Lets not forget that Bang & Olufsen really isn't for every body.  B&O doesn't really make very many "mainstream" products so I really don't see this (if it ever happens, of course) affecting sales at all.

Considering the relative dud that the AppleTV has been, I can't see Apple building a dedicated set and being able to push enough into the field to capture enough revenue from apps, rentals, etc. The overhead associated with designing, tooling, building, shipping, stocking, selling, and servicing TVs versus just giving their software to multiple mainstream manufacturers whose distribution channels are already in place seems pointless. 

Then again, they've tended to be the most successful when the redefine a category rather than just participating. It's entirely possible that they could enter the market with a 32" and a 55" model and just blow everyone to smithereens. People will wonder how manufacturers ever survived making so many TV sizes.

All their problems aside, they're one of the few companies I'd avoid too much prognostication on. 

TripEnglish wrote:

Here's who should be really worried about Apple making a television: cable & satellite providers. Apple wants the revenue streams associated with content distribution. Gillette will never make the highest end razor, just the one that moves the most cartridges. 

 

Rubbish, Apple have no content contracts for linear TV. It's the video rental stores that are in trouble with Netflix, Apple etc. 

frog wrote:

TripEnglish wrote:

Here's who should be really worried about Apple making a television: cable & satellite providers. Apple wants the revenue streams associated with content distribution. Gillette will never make the highest end razor, just the one that moves the most cartridges. 

 

Rubbish, Apple have no content contracts for linear TV. It's the video rental stores that are in trouble with Netflix, Apple etc. 

Just like with music, movies, TV Shows, eBooks, Apps etc. when they have the hardware to support it ... they'll dictate the terms and make those agreements appear almost overnight.  They've proven this time and time again.

TripEnglish wrote:

Considering the relative dud that the AppleTV has been, I can't see Apple building a dedicated set and being able to push enough into the field to capture enough revenue from apps, rentals, etc. 

As a very early adopter of the Apple TV, I simply cannot understand why it has not been more successful.  I use one in my living room attached to a small LCD screen as a music server, one in my main AV room (which will soon be controlled by a Beosystem 3 :-) for watching movies and TV shows "on demand", and I take one of new, smaller ones with me when I travel and attach it to hotel TVs that have HDMI.  I have also given a couple of the older type with internal hard drives that I have pre-loaded with music, and people LOVE them.

That being said, the fact is that you are correct: the Apple TV has been a dud for Apple.  However, if Apple simply integrated the Apple TV with an LCD screen, I think it would be a huge success.  Everyone who sees my Apple TVs thinks that they are great, and several have gone out and bought them.  Nobody has every said "nah, I don't think I need that".