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Tim Cook at D10: Dodges Questions about TV, Is an Area of "Intense Interest"

Tuesday May 29, 2012 8:07 pm PDT by Arnold Kim

At this year's All Things D conference, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher asked Apple CEO Tim Cook about the Apple TV and the company's interest in making a full fledged television set. Rumors of such a product have been persistent but with increasing frequency over the past few years.

Cook reiterated the relatively small success of the current Apple TV set top box. He notes that the device has been selling at twice the rate of the previous year with 2.7 million units sold in the first 6 months of 2012. As he has in the past, Cook reports that there is incredibly high customer satisfaction with the current Apple TV set top box, and it's an area they have intense interest in:
This is an area of intense interest for us. Many of us, the TV that we do watch, is almost exclusively on [the Apple TV]. That's what my TV watching is. All of my movies, everything is coming through Apple TV.

So, the customer satisfaction with that product is incredible. We're going to keep pulling this string and see where it takes us. Many people would say "this is an area in their life that they aren't pleased with." They might not be pleased with many things about it. The whole TV experience. It's an interesting area. We'll have to see what we do. Right now our contribution is Apple TV.
A bit later in the interview, Mossberg comes out and asked Tim Cook directly "Are you making a television", to which Cook replies that he's not going to answer that question.

Cook does discuss their general approach to product design in response to Apple's possible contribution to the television market:
We would look at this and say can we control the key technology? Can we make a significant contribution beyond what others have made in this area? Can we make a product that we would all want? That's all thing we would ask about any new product category. It's the ones we ask about products within families we're thinking about now.


Tag: Tim Cook
[ 68 comments ]


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SprodeBoy
91 months ago
Good Move

I think the apple TV not only has a future, but will become the next iPhone sort of thing. Apple will go from a nobody to a large competitor in the TV business
Rating: 13 Votes
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jontech
91 months ago
Where is my Fox and MGM movies on iCloud, you had Ruppert in the audience....
Rating: 8 Votes
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myrtlebee
91 months ago
I like Tim's answer on Ping ... the customers voted... not something they want to put a lot of energy into. When asked if they would scrap it, he said some people find it useful. I haven't heard a word about Ping since the day it was introduced. It's a bit embarrassing. I think it should be scrapped when iTunes gets some attention (possibly this year).
Rating: 8 Votes
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SprodeBoy
91 months ago
I can't wait to see people bring in their 55" Apple TVs into the Genius Bar...
Rating: 6 Votes
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filmantopia
91 months ago
I think Apple should Double Down™ on TV.
Rating: 5 Votes
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jontech
91 months ago

You know what else is an area of intense interest? The 2012 Mac Pro!!! :mad:


I am ready to forego my rightful place on my own bed and sleep on the couch for months! (which is what it will cost me in addition to the credit card bill)
Rating: 5 Votes
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Cougarcat
91 months ago

A bit later in the interview, Mossberg comes out and asked Tim Cook directly "Are you making a television", to which Cook replies that he's not going to answer that question.


Why even bother asking the question? He knew Cook would say that!

So many questions were a waste.
Rating: 5 Votes
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funman895
91 months ago
Well that's a standard response from an Apple exec. It seems to me that they're definitely working on something, but based on the second quote it might not be something that's happening soon. He said Apple won't get involved if it's not something they can greatly improve the core technology of.

I think if Apple is going to make a TV, it's going to be something really special that people can't ignore (like the Apple TV is often ignored). If it is being released, get ready for a show-stopper!

Also: I love how the movie "Senna" is in the pic.
Rating: 4 Votes
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mjtomlin
91 months ago
More telling from the interview is when Kara asked Tim what he considered the key technology in TVs to be...

All he said was, "I'm not telling you that."

From this I think they have something different they're working on that isn't as obvious as everyone else thinks it may be.
Rating: 3 Votes
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SprodeBoy
91 months ago

I started doing HD video on the side, and now its becoming full time work. I can actually justify a Mac Pro finally (hope my wife buys that :)


I am a 17 year old video producer. I definitely don't get enough where i can live on my own (Thanks goodness I'm still in high school) But I have been saving a few hundred every month for a new laptop and camera. Don't mean to spam but check me out? http://youtube.com/sprodeboy
Rating: 3 Votes

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