Report: Apple Reaching Out to TV Component Suppliers

Apple is purportedly working on its own TV set, rather than just a set-top box like Apple TV.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Rampant speculation says Apple has a full-fledged, big-screen TV project in the works — an iTV, if you will. Now Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple has been contacting component makers for its set, leading him to believe it will almost definitely land in 2012.

In a note to investors on Tuesday, Munster wrote that a "major TV component supplier" told him Apple has been in touch with them regarding TV components. However, Munster also conceded that Apple may never actually release a TV at all.

"We believe that Apple only enters mature markets with the goal of revolutionizing them, as it did with the smartphone," Munster wrote in his note. "Without a revamped TV content solution, we do not think Apple enters the TV market."

Nonetheless, says another analyst, now might actually be a good time for Apple to take the smart TV market by storm.

"The television market in many ways looks very similar to the landscape of the handset industry before the entrance of the iPhone," NPD analyst Ross Rubin said. Indeed, all the major TV manufacturers are taking different approaches to smart TV implementation. The field is fragmented and lacks a clear leader — so Apple could very well enter an industry ripe for the taking.

Still, timing is a key issue here. DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon feels that a 2012 launch date could be unrealistic. Indeed, in the past, Munster had even tapped 2011 as when we'd see an Apple-branded television.

"Most TVs require at least a year to manufacture from design conception to production, so if Apple is just now talking to component suppliers, it might be tough to launch in 2012," Gagnon said. However, Gagnon does acknowledge that it's not impossible that Apple could whip suppliers into shape, and get a product out by the end of the year.

Apple could have been working on a television project as early as 2007, and speculation says Siri voice control remains a key feature of any eventual UI. This thought was bolstered when it came to light that Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson he had "finally cracked" the problem of making a user-friendly smart TV prior to his death.

In his note to investors, Munster outlines three ways he sees Apple implementing a smart TV platform.

The simplest path would be for Apple to partner with cable companies and offer a TiVo-like interface for managing live TV service. This wouldn't be incredibly revolutionary, but the interface could offer iTunes movie rentals and other purchases right on the TV.

A more complex implementation would involve Apple providing live TV from major networks, as well as offering web-based programming from sources like Hulu and Netflix. Additional video content could be purchased through iTunes on the TV.

The last possibility Munster suggests is that Apple could offer a monthly subscription package for à la carte TV offerings. This would let Apple control the whole television experience, but would be a difficult feat to pull of. Apple would become "a virtual MSO (Multiple Services Provider)." Indeed, considering CBS reportedly turned down a streaming deal for Apple TV, this sounds like an unlikely scenario.

"A lot of the comments that Munster makes about service offerings are interesting, but they all have a lot of complications," Gagnon said. "And unlike partnering with a mobile offerer like AT&T, as Apple did in the smartphone market, MSOs typically dont have nationwide coverage, so they'd have to develop a lot of offerings to provide that coverage."

In October, we looked at what an Apple television set could offer based on rumors and Apple's current technologies. Our conclusion: The TV would have an innovative user interface, but Apple wouldn't likely radicalize the live television content distribution model.

via Cult of Mac

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Original Page: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/02/report-apple-tv-components/

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