Citing checks with industry and supply chain sources, analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee said there's a belief that Jobs was "very excited" about the prospect of Apple entering the television market. That same enthusiasm was expressed by Jobs to his biographer, when he said that Apple was working on a TV set with "the simplest user interface you could imagine."
While Jobs felt he had solved the issue of confusing user interfaces with TVs, Wu said one problem Apple has yet to resolve are licensing deals with content providers. Those terms, which have yet to be ironed out, are said to be the main roadblock preventing Apple from selling an HDTV.
Wu said sources have told him that Apple "would love" to allow users to choose customized programming for a monthly subscription fee. With this plan, users could choose whatever channels or shows they wanted to subscribe to, offering an "a la carte" option instead of bundles with dozens of channels as currently provided by cable operators.
As far back as 2009, Apple was said to have pitched a $30-per-month iTunes subscription plan to content providers. But that concept never gained any traction.
Another content-related obstacle for Apple is live television. Wu said that Apple could "bypass" this by integrating its TV with existing cable or satellite providers, but he thinks Apple could better differentiate its product if it were able to offer live programming over the Internet.
But as more users look to "cut the cord" and end their cable or satellite TV service, Wu believes content providers may, ironically, need to turn to Apple to bring back subscribers. He compared it to how music publishers turned to Apple and iTunes in the face of rising piracy.
Still, with so much depending on licensing deals for content, he believes that Apple has a lot of work ahead of it before it can bring a full-fledged television set to market.
"Because of the high dependence on content providers," he said, "we believe exact timing of a 'real' Apple TV shipping is difficult to pinpoint."
96 Comments
Finally, a sane article in this TV business, but it doesn't go far enough. There are still going to be plenty of people who are perfectly happy with the current HDTV they have (whether they recently bought it or brand loyalty) so I'm wondering why these content deals wouldnt be for the current AppleTV as well, a far more mass market device than a $1000+ TV.
I think the bigger worry to me would be the local cable companies who also control internet service to the home. If I cancel my TV with Comcast, who's to stop them from lowering my monthly bandwidth allowance, only offering a slower speed, and charging more for the "pleasure" of it?
Even more important than deals with the content providers are the ISPs. Internet TV will be at the mercy of the ISPs who will tax away whatever profits Apple might expect from selling TVs and content. To eliminate this long term threat, I don't see any other option than for Apple to build/buy its own nationwide transmission network. What does 82 billion net of taxes buy you?
I think the bigger worry to me would be the local cable companies who also control internet service to the home. If I cancel my TV with Comcast, who's to stop them from lowering my monthly bandwidth allowance, only offering a slower speed, and charging more for the "pleasure" of it?
You are correct sir. It all comes down to everyone grabbing for a piece of the pie. I just hope they don't knock the pie off the table and nobody gets any.
Duh..