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

apple tv 2012

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.

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Top Rated Comments

SprodeBoy Avatar
169 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
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
myrtlebee Avatar
169 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).
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jontech Avatar
169 months ago
Where is my Fox and MGM movies on iCloud, you had Ruppert in the audience....
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SprodeBoy Avatar
169 months ago
I can't wait to see people bring in their 55" Apple TVs into the Genius Bar...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jontech Avatar
169 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)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cougarcat Avatar
169 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.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)