Rumours has it vendors were banging out TV gear at the recent CES – from LG and Samsung’s Curved OLEDs to pricey mammoth 4K Ultra HD screens from Pansonic, Sony and TCL – all in a bid to shake off any potential competition from a new Apple TV device. No one is in any doubt that the mighty Apple could shake up the market if it chooses to enter the highly competitive TV market. And their fears could be accurate if Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, comments yesterday are anything to go by. Although Cook, wouldn’t be drawn on analysts queries about the release of an Apple TV at its earnings call yesterday, he didn’t deny a newbie TV device was coming either. “Apple TV sold more last quarter than we ever did before,” he said. Growth of the Apple TV streaming box, which costs $109, was up 60% year-on year to 2 million shipments,” Cook noted. In other words, Cupertino would be idiots not to capitalise on this growth and move its innovation firmly into the living room. Apple TV was once a “niche” market, but now enjoying “very good growth,” he told analysts. “There’s a lot we can contribute in this space….we’ll continue to pull the strings and see where it leads us,” – Cook’s strongest hint it is soon to pull a TV trick out of the bag of gadgets. |
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| Apple’s boss also spoke about how consumers “love our products” and the product pipeline going forward indicating Apple’s period of innovation is far from over.
Apple’s TV box, in its current form, lets you watch 1080p movies, play YouTube and Vimeo videos, stream music and photos from iCloud. And with Google TV set to explode this year, with devices coming Down Under from Hisense, TCL and Sony, it could be another mammoth Apple V Google battle, like in the smartphone market. Just sit back and watch. |
