2011’s World Wide Developer’s Conference is fast approaching, but for the first time in four years, there is no expectation that Apple will reveal a new iPhone there. That might be a very good thing for investors looking to capitalize on low expectations.
“We expect Apple to announce software features for iPhones, iPads and Macs at WWDC on [June 6] that could serve as a near-term catalyst as expectations for the event are relatively low,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told investors Wednesday. One reason for the lessened expectations is a prevailing opinion Apple won’t introduce a new iPhone until September.
Munster also trotted out his pet theory that Apple could reignite the fire Wall Street witnessed in 2011 by introducing a new product category, such as televisions. The move could “unlock new perceived value in the company, and thus the stock,” he said.
So far, Munster’s vision of an Apple-branded television hasn’t come to fruition. Although there remains time, the same urgency that we saw behind the iPhone or iPad just hasn’t appeared for an iTV. Do you ever think Apple will unveil its own TV? Let us know in the comments.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
26 responses to “Analyst: Apple Could Surprise Us at WWDC”
apple will definitely have something up their sleeve, maybe a beta project or something
I think there’s a chance Apple may enter the gaming market? Perhaps tweaking the Mini and using their already proven app store to deliver high quality games…they’d be the first to perfect it if they did so.
they have got the brains and designers for it, so i guess why not
apple has already done video games and it didn’t work out, but maybe they could with the app store
I think Apple might get into this market, but I do not think it will be until 3-5 years. As of right now, they have the Apple TV, which does everything your really need and that’s connected to your current TV. I feel Apple would release a TV and judging by most of the products Apple releases it would be of a higher quality and that comes with a price. With this being said, the typical consumer would not spend over 1,000 for a new HDTV, since you can get pretty good deals for under 1,000.
I think the only viable option for Apple to release a physical Apple TV, they would need to hit that sweet spot of 500-1,000 dollars.
Here is a video with more of my opinions and thoughts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
How can you actually compare any past Apple gaming platform to the potential that is in Apple’s Technology and Software at this point in time. I think that Apple could pull off a gaming platform (Mac Mini and/or ATV + AppStore) that would knock Sony, Microsoft, etc. out of the market, or at least put a good sized dent in it for sure.
Two things to consider. One, even if Apple does release an iTV in the future, the probability of it including anything that differentiates itself from the existing AppleTV product (besides the obvious) would be pretty low. An iTV is just not that compelling of a product compared to what is already available. Second, Apple STILL considers the AppleTV to be a bit of a “hobby”. They are giving it more weight than in previous generations, but it is still very much in the development stage. Apple waited until iOS was mature and secure before launching the iPad. There is so much MORE that the AppleTV could do that I think it’s a bit premature to begin looking for an iTV before they’re done showing the potential of the current AppleTV.
Just think of a huge 52″ iMac…a screen that size could easily fit a TV component as well as a computer components…it would have wifi as well as a HD camera for the ultimate FaceTime experience. Apple will put us in the future by allowing us to live like the Jetsons.
Wow, that headline is so huge a ‘no duh’. Could is a very wishy world. Will is a stronger world and shows a lot more faith.
WWDC was set up to talk about software. It was taken over by the iphone which was wrong and never should have happened. Apple is correcting that and getting it back to what it was and should be.
In addition, moving the iphone away from WWDC detaches any sense of mandated schedule. They don’t have to announce the iphone before it is ready or delay WWDC until it is.
All around smart moves. When they are ready, even if it is is the same week, they can do a media event from the campus town hall or screw all that and just do a live stream. Hell they could really mix it up and announce it only via the site (with a 72 hour countdown clock on the front page to dig up excitement) and perhaps their Apple Store app with a collection of behind the scenes videos showing where they design and test the iphones and not just sexy Jonny and his accent with some flashes of the new thing (they would have him in VO of course.). Call it ‘Release Video 2.0’. Heck they could even flash them to those ipad signs in the stores. Getting to see behind the curtain at Apple would be the height of amazing and magical
They could possibly achieve the same thing with a stand alone box. Probably not as small as the current ATV but perhaps something in between that and the current Mac Mini. It wouldn’t be a high powered computer probably but something perhaps in the range of a Macbook Air.
Or they could just app up the Apple TV and the web browsing, email, perhaps Facetime and create a newer much better take on the whole WebTV thing. Pair it with a much reduced Mobile Me option to get the imap based email etc and a lot of folks would love it.
If it was enough of a “computer” that you didn’t have to sync it to something else for backing up or even could use it to sync ipads etc for backing up and updates, a lot more folks (especially older ones) would freak.
And all attached to your choice of tv’s, including the one that you have now (provided it is widescreen and has HDMI)
apple already sells a TV product – it’s called apple tv – it isn’t apple’s style to cannibalise & confuse customers by selling a ‘real’ tv right a long side it. especially considering how well the apple tv 2 has been doing.
in my opinion apple definitely needs to expand into the living room more, but with all the airplay functionality they’ve been adding to devices it makes much more sense to me that they’re planning to do this through a combination of apple tv as the ‘magic box’ & iOS devices as the customisable ‘remotes’ they can easily be.
if they did push the boat out though – i’d be much more excited about an apple LED projector with appletv functionality, airplay & apps.
If they enter the gaming market it is more likely to be via adding more apps to the Apple TV. Change up the SDK so that developers can create games that use the ATV to shoot the ‘board’ up to the screen and use your iphone etc as the controllers. Game night at the house has everyone playing scrabble etc with the tv not a cardboard board. or even online chess but you get a big screen to do it on.
Or even more so, you might recall Killan’s article from about 3 weeks ago reviewing among other games, Real Racing 2 HD, Final Fantasy 3 and NBA Jams. http://bit.ly/ev7e7j
Real Racing it was noted had just added a video out feature that allows you to plug in and have the track up on your tv. but any of those 3 games would be served by such a treatment. And if you could do it via a pairing of the ATV and your ipad/iphone you would have a Wii like wireless game play.
Jobs introduced Apple’s vision in a 2001 keynote: After describing 1976-1979 as the PC’s “prehistoric age,” 1980-1994 as the “golden age of productivity,” and 1995-2000 as the PC’s second golden age, the “age of the internet,” Jobs identified the current age as the third golden age, the age of the “digital lifestyle” and the Mac as the “digital hub of our new emerging digital lifestyle.” He did not mention television, but he did refer to the larger screens on PCs as an opportunity to improve the user interface. His focus was primarily on applications running on a Mac that would enable it to function as this “digital hub.”
My guess is that Apple’s maturing “hobby” will be incorporated into an evolving vision of this digital lifestyle, and an Apple-branded TV makes the most sense for a company that makes the lion’s share of its money selling hardware.
As Apple has said, WWDC will be about Mac OS X Lion and iOS 5.
What I expect:
<ul><li>Release date for Lion (July 12)</li><li>New Mac Pros (shipping in July)</li><li>Release timeframe for iOS 5 (Q1 2012)</li><li>iPhone 4S (A “Speed Bumped” iPhone, shipping in August)</li></ul>
Specifics:
New Mac Pros will have an option for rack-mounting, thus replacing the Xserve. Apple will show the work going on for iOS 5 and give a general release date with lots of wiggle room. Remember that iOS and Mac OS X are based off a similar “core” set of technologies and the people who work on those are finishing up Lion, so the resources aren’t necessarily there to get it in 2011–but I could believe Q4 2011. iPhone 4S, like the 3GS, will be a beefier version of the iPhone 4 with an underclocked A5, more memory, and support for HSPA+ but not LTE.
There’s my predictions.