For years now, a prominent analyst has predicted Apple will get into the high-definition TV business. While that makes about as much sense as my idea for an iToaster, the rumor is back again, this time piggy-backing on the iCloud.
“Apple’s iCloud service for media storage makes it easier to own multiple devices and share content among them,” Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster opined to investors Thursday.
Along with storing music and pictures, Munster believes movies and TV shows could also use iCloud, “which could be viewed on a TV.” But an Apple-branded TV?
Earlier this week, another report (citing a “former Apple executive”) posited the advent of AirPlay could turn Apple TV from a hobby to another revenue source for the technology giant, by making the leap from set-top boxes to full-on HDTV sets. AirPlay – which allows iOS devices to stream content to other devices, such as printers and – could stream TV programming, as well. Although one can follow the logic, it is a bumpy road.
Unless Apple plans to get into the 72-inch 3D LCD high-definition sector of the industry, HDTVs are the most fractured, commoditized and competitive sector that exists. The Cupertino, Calif. company tends to prefer to control a segment, be it the MP3 market (with upwards of 80 percent of the digital music device market), or high-end computers, smartphones, and more.
Come September and the iCloud launches, we are likely to have a better idea of Apple’s intentions. There may be some movement to stream video content to televisions, but likely streaming to a non-Apple HDTV.
More likely, the rumors will continue that a prototype iTV is on the workbench just waiting to be unveiled… and we’ll be hearing this all again in a few months time. What do you think, though? Could there be any grain of truth to these constant reports, or do you think Apple’s path to the living room is through their $99 set-top boxes. Let us know in the comments.
