Register

I agree with the Privacy Policy

In The News

Why I'm Glad Apple Inc. Killed Its Smart TV Plans

May 19, 2015

There's simply no reason for Apple to jump into the crowded low-margin battlefield of smart TVs when it can sell its hardware at gross margins exceeding 40%. Steve Jobs reportedly once told employees, "TV is a terrible business. They don't turn over and the margins suck."

Perhaps Icahn will argue that Apple's brand appeal could convince people to buy $1,500 4K TVs. But in my opinion, TVs don't belong in the same category as smartphones or tablets. Plunging prices across the market indicate that customers favor big screens with low price tags, and the upgrade cycle for TVs is much longer than the one for smartphones and tablets.

In addition, Apple already has a decent foothold in the connected TV market with Apple TV, which accounted for 17% of all streaming media devices in the U.S. last year, according to Parks Associates. That makes it a decent platform for delivering iTunes, its upcoming streaming TV service, and other digital content to customers.

From the article "Why I'm Glad Apple Inc. Killed Its Smart TV Plans" by Leo Sun.

Previously In The News

The next Apple TV puts company in rare role: Playing catch-up

One of the first mainstream devices of its kind, Apple TV is a big seller worldwide. Apple has sold 25 million of the boxes in its lifetime, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in March. That beats Roku'...

Apple TV adds CNBC, Fox Now

Apple TV has been adding more content lately as the company has had to fight a handful of competitors -- including Roku, Amazon, and Google -- in the streaming-media device market. Spurring interes...

Does Flywheel exec shakeup spell trouble? CEO says no

Launched last year, Flywheel so far operates in three cities -- San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. San Francisco was its first market where it's took the city by storm. It partnered with the m...

Chromecast at year 1: Why it's more than just an impulse buy (Q&A)

The Chromecast wasn't the first wireless streaming-media dongle to come along -- Roku had one long before -- but the $35 price and the initial offer of three months of free Netflix sparked a flurry...

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
...
46
47
›