Apple Finally Making Strong Big Screen Play in Living Room? From Steve Job's Hobby to Attempt to Crack the $100 Billion Dollar Global TV Market

Posted by Richard Kastelein in Writers on April 14, 2011  |  0 Comments More from this author  |    |  Follow Richard Kastelein on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

Silicon Republic is reporting rumours that Steve Jobs and Apple are finally going to push hard with Apple TV. At Appmarket.tv we have covered plenty of rumours on Job's wrist-flicking of Connected TVs for a year.

And once again, the idea of Apple building TVs is back on the rumour mill with Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White writing in a note to investors Wednesday:

"...that Apple was moving towards offering a TV set of its own "at a faster pace than the market expected," and could have that product launch by the end of the year. The proof to back up those claims are "data points" from the company's research."

White apparently saw signs of Apple activity in the arena at a Chinese electronics show - though did not reveal what tipped him off in the note.

This was a repeat from last year when Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who seems to love the idea of an Apple TV- noted that Apple might roll out such a product in a between 2013 and 2015. A more recent note by Munster from January suggested that an Apple-made TV was more likely to arrive sometime in 2012.

Cnet also noted that:

"...Adding fuel to the fire, Apple put out a job listing back in February for someone to work on "new power management designs and technologies," for use on various Apple products, including a TV. "

This could be a huge play for third party app developers in the iOS ecosystem - as the whispers also include an application distribution system similar to the App Store on iOS and on the Mac OS, which would let users extend what the hardware is capable of post-purchase. The combination of Apple iPhone, iPad and a TV is also a very powerful trifecta for broadcasters and content producers - in terms of new Multiplatform Formats, Social TV, and Transmedia Storytelling. 

Forbes notes:

Observers have speculated for years that Apple will enter the $100 billion market for LCD television sets. To date, however, Apple has only flirted with the market with the $99 Apple TV, which Apple Chief Steve Jobs has described as a “hobby.”

Couple that with further tidbits that Apple is also believed to be launching a new web-based video service that will take on Netflix and jump ahead of YouTube plans to launch streaming video and TV channels - they could perhaps finally become a solid player in the living room after years of conjecture.

From yet another analyst:

Speculation around Apple’s plans are being fuelled by a report by Jeffries analyst Peter Misek who believes Apple CEO Steve Jobs wants to do for video what he achieved with music via iTunes and the iPod and would see this as an epic final act.