In 2013, rumors about Apple-branded TV set were circulating day by day, but after some point, the spike just flattened out. Well, now we have a reason worth believing: Brian Blair, an analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, has told Business Insider that Apple indeed had plans to release their own standalone television set, but it was shelved in the mid-2013.
With Steve Jobs’ biography mentioning that he had “cracked” the code for an “integrated television set” and Tim Cook calling the TV market “an area of intense interest”, readers were already hinted of an Apple HDTV in the oven. Many concept designs and speculated unique features in relation to patent filings and acquisitions were flooding the web.
However, after his recent tour to Asia, Blair claims to have learned a lot on Apple’s television dreams. According to him, Apple was actively working on a prototype HDTV and even reached a stage where they started connecting with display panel makers. But at some point in 2013, Apple decided to put a halt on the project. The reasons being:
Some of the concerns around a TV are believed to revolve around 1) the unique logistics that surround the TV business (you can’t easily bring one into a store for repair, for example) and 2) features that would differentiate it from competitive offerings. It is believed in the supply chain that Apple is still trying to find a way to make the product work, though timing remains uncertain. We believe that Apple is focused on building up content and establishing differentiated media relationships before reconsidering TV plans again.
At the end of the day, we can only speculate that Apple will be concentrating more on the Apple TV set-top box for the time being and try to dominate the living room via the black box, rather than lighting up a couple million pixels. Maybe the long delay in the next Apple TV indicates great things are coming. Fingers crossed!
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