New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Apple Indeed Talking with Cable Operators About New TV Product, But Launch Not Imminent

Friday November 16, 2012 7:22 am PST by Eric Slivka
Following up on yesterday's report suggesting that a launch of a new Apple television product may be "imminent" based on cable operators assessing infrastructure needs to support such a device, AllThingsD notes that Apple is indeed talking with cable operators but that characterizing any launch as "imminent" would be premature.
For starters, Apple has already steered analysts away from the notion that it will have something to say about a TV solution soon. More important: If Apple were close to launching a new service, it would almost certainly be in touch with TV programmers about new arrangements, and we haven’t heard anything along those lines.

In other words, there are still a lot of missing pieces here, and while a major cable provider running what-if scenarios on a rumored Apple product is certainly interesting, it’s not necessarily a trumpet fanfare announcing its imminent arrival.
Apple continues to refer to its existing Apple TV set-top box business as a "hobby", even as sales doubled year-over-year to 5 million units in fiscal 2012. More ambitious plans for either a new set-top box supporting live television or an Internet-connected television set are reportedly being slowed by difficult content negotiations.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12, tvOS 13
Tags: allthingsd.com, Apple TV Guide
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
[ 132 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
spiderman0616
87 months ago
I am 100% in love with my Apple TV and I really don't see why they need to make an actual television. Super charge the Apple TV with the option to use it with cable and give it an amazing interface, and this whole profitability issue goes away. Let all the people already in the game make the TV hardware. Apple TV would turn ANY TV into an iTV. Let Samsung and Sony and Vizio fight over the profit scraps in the TV biz.

A buddy of mine has a Samsung Smart TV and hates the interface and buggy apps so much that he bought an Apple TV and uses that on the Samsung TV. He loves it.

So if you can't tell, I think the smart move is to do a grand re-launching of Apple TV. I will buy one for every TV I own, and I think others would too.
Rating: 19 Votes
Avatar
jdegid
87 months ago
"Apple continues to refer to its existing Apple TV set-top box business as a "hobby", "

Nice to have a hobby when you can't deliver on your real job. :cool:

where's my iMac?
Rating: 16 Votes
Avatar
gregwyattjr
87 months ago
Fixing Maps should become Apple's new hobby.
Rating: 14 Votes
Avatar
Jsameds
87 months ago
Can't wait for the iMac to be released purely to shut the moaners on here up, but then again they'll just pass the buck to the Mac Pro crowd :(
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
dkersten
87 months ago
Dear iMac owners/potential buyers,

Apple is never going to release a new iMac. Apple just showed a concept they scrapped at the presentation to troll all of you. Please never speak of the iMac on a non-iMac article again. Get a freaking grip on reality.

Sincerely, everyone else
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
camnchar
87 months ago
Sorry Apple. I'll probably put some cash down for a flat screen this holiday season, which means I probably won't be in the market for another 5-7 years.

Unless your TV is insanely great. Not "iPad Mini great," but something really extraordinary.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
sputnikv
87 months ago
a launch will never be imminent without a prior announcement
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
rmwebs
87 months ago

The only way for Apple to get the ball running on the AppleTV is for Profession & NCAA teams sell "Subscriptions" to Teams and the AppleTV would start flying off the shelf, i am full believer in this. It would fly faster if Apple made deals with "Football" clubs across Europe & elsewhere. It would be even better if a fan from another country could also buy that Teams "subscription".:D


Not going to happen. European TV is VERY different from that in the states, Football is all locked up by Mr Murdoch, like most sports and major broadcasts. In the UK we have 4 choices: Digital Terrestrial (e.g Freeview, BT Vision, etc), Freesat (basically freeview over Satellite) Virgin Media (aka Cable)or Sky (Satellite).

There isnt anywhere for Apple to 'slot in'. Virgin are in partnership with Tivo - a long term contract, Freeview allows anyone to create a set top box (there is only about 30 channels, pretty mediocre ones at that) and Sky use a custom system.

A very similar system operates throughout Europe, and Cable isnt all that popular in many places as there just arent the cable lines in place.

Apple TV cant really succeed if its restricted to one type of input. Obviously internet-based streaming would be ideal, but again, there is no way it will happen. The ISP's were up in arms when BBC iPlayer launched, and demanded that it was either taken off line, or the BBC paid the ISP's extra cash. In the end, most ISP's ended up throttling it.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
gnasher729
87 months ago

Meh

Too little too late

Apple will be quick to call it a "hobby" when this thing fails


Quarterly sales are higher than XBox 360. Just to put these things into perspective. If any other company was selling this, they would call it a huge success.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
CWallace
87 months ago

Meh

Too little too late

Apple will be quick to call it a "hobby" when this thing fails


Quarterly sales are higher than XBox 360. Just to put these things into perspective. If any other company was selling this, they would call it a huge success.


Heck, if Apple was selling 50 million units a year, Wall Street would say they expected 55 million and therefore the Apple TV is a "massive failure" and another sign that "Apple is doomed". :rolleyes:
Rating: 4 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]