Analyst Suggests the Success of the Apple TV Will be Software-Based

[Akshay Masand]

In a recent investor note Barclays investment analyst Ben Reitzes passed on, he shared his belief of a set top box being the way Apple has “cracked” the TV scene, rather than with an integrated television set created by Apple hardware designers. His opinion is that Apple is more likely to create a TV product that focuses on the software and features and not on the hardware aspect. Reitzes wrote the following in his note:

“We believe consumers would welcome such a product from Apple, as well given that many younger customers seem to be watching content on demand on smaller screens (iPads, laptops) in private places – and only Apple seems to be the company that can redirect that content back to the big screen.”

He continued by saying that while smaller screen media viewing hasn’t made enough money yet, Apple’s dominance in the iPhone and iPad markets give the company a better chance than anyone to partner well with traditional content providers. He said the following regarding the issue below:

“The risk of not partnering with Apple is that as young people may “cut the cord” given the cost of cable,” he said, “and that a screen connected to an Apple TV with AirPlay can provide a substantial array of content.”

We recently reported about Apple’s negotiations with cable companies and other content providers. Regardless of what the form factor is ultimately, it’s quite clear that Apple is indeed planning on taking over the living room by storm. It isn’t much of a surprise either as the living room is where most people tend to consume their content. Apple hasn’t confirmed or denied any details as of yet so this is all just rumor and speculation at this point. It has to be taken with a grain of salt but it’s more than likely that Apple seems to be getting ready to take the next step in the business it considers a “hobby.”

Source: Barron’s

[bigboyz]

Not sure how I feel about this..all depends on the cost for content. Songs used to be .99 and now they are 1.29 and so on. In the end it seems the prices will skyrocket towards our current cable bill..guess we'll have to give this one some time to grow.

[Mrteacup]

well this is sadly obvious! Analysts point out such obvious sh*t. Like people want an apple tv because it DOESNT run ios etc. jeez... any other main tv maker will be able to top apple in feature hell this even applies to phones. Apple updates a phone every year plenty of time to beat them but apples software has always set them apart!