Not all boats float on a rising tide. That seems to be the lesson Apple is learning with its Apple TV, a device analysts say has not benefited from increased sales of the company’s other products, including iMacs and iPods and even the lowly Magic Mouse. Apple TV sales rose just 10 percent in 2009, despite an upgraded Apple TV 3.0 OS.
The minor growth was likely due to 2008 being a slow year, not because the streaming device made any inroads into a hard-to-define market, NPD Group vice president of industry analysis Steven Baker said.
Although Apple updated the Apple TV interface, added iTunes Extra and iTunes LP compatibility, plus offered Genius mixes and Internet radio, no new hardware was advanced. Instead, Apple dropped the 40GB Apple TV and discounted the 160GB model to $229.
Despite rumor Apple is considering using Apple TV as a center for a subscription service that would stream television shows, the Cupertino, Calif. company publicly remains split on the product’s importance.
“I continue to believe that it will be a hobby,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said earlier this year. Meanwhile, the company still considers Apple TV a potential revenue-generator. “We will continue to invest there, because we believe there is something there for us in the future,” remarked Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook.
Apple is having problems with other lesser-known products, but for a reason opposite that of Apple TV: too many alternatives. Both Airport and Airport Express wireless access points have shown little change in market share. The Airport is fifth behind Linksys, Belkin, D-Link and Netgear.
“I think the Airport is probably a little expensive compared to some of the other wireless access points that are out there,” Baker told AppleInsider. In another example of slow-moving products, Apple’s Time Machine, a consumer-oriented networked attached storage device, may be attempting a foothold in an area that the analyst described as a “miniscule marketplace.” Most NAS is business-oriented while consumers are flocking to external hard drives for additional storage.
[Via AppleInsider]
