Apple Oled TV

Juanthekoreandon

Any one think apple is going to drop a 10k TV bomb on the world this year..... My buddy won't stop going on about how it is going to happen, not like he could afford one any ways.

Just give me your 2 cents! I might give you 1 back.

Edit typo

jungleroomx

No thanks.

syndalis

No, Apple will not be dropping a 10,000 dollar TV on the world, because they are not idiots.

If Apple decides to break into the TV market, they will do so on a pricepoint that is on the high end of consumer comfort, but still be widely purchasable.

Expect a 100-200 dollar premium over similarly sized sets, but with baked in AppleTV hardware, capable of running 1080p content. Also, expect Apple to announce many many more content contracts if they decide to go down this road, because you can bet your ass they aren't going to go through the nightmare that is Cablelabs certification - that road took Microsoft the better part of a decade to pull off, and it's a very public process - something Apple will not abide by. So the television, while it will likely have an HDMI port or three for things like set top boxes, will not be a direct cable/satellite unit, but rather a Netflix/iTunes Store/MLB/NBA/NHL/Youtube/Tumblr/HBO/Hulu/etc style App friendly box, with voice control via Siri.

That's the most likely scenario if they decide to make a TV. More likely, they are just going to make an updated AppleTV3 set top box and call it a day.

a5ehren

Yeah.

Apple is not going to make a $10K TV. I don't think they're going to make any TV. The TV business is notoriously low-margin except for the super high-end. Established players like Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic are losing tons of money on their TV divisions, and Apple hates losing money.

I could see them partnering with Sharp to make the next version of the Elite (which is a $6000 LED TV) have an AppleTV interface (and some consultation on the industrial design) instead of Sharp's terrible internet suite, though. They may even call it the "Apple Elite" or something since that is pretty much all a hypothetical Apple television would be anyway.

They have no reason to make a TV when they can sell 100x more AppleTV pucks at $100 and make tons of money via iTunes. I fully expect an AppleTV update with 1080p and whatever CPU is in the new iPad. This will finally make it a useful platform.

Juanthekoreandon

a5ehren wrote: »

Yeah.

Apple is not going to make a $10K TV. I don't think they're going to make any TV. The TV business is notoriously low-margin except for the super high-end. Established players like Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic are losing tons of money on their TV divisions, and Apple hates losing money.

I could see them partnering with Sharp to make the next version of the Elite (which is a $6000 LED TV) have an AppleTV interface (and some consultation on the industrial design) instead of Sharp's terrible internet suite, though. They may even call it the "Apple Elite" or something since that is pretty much all a hypothetical Apple television would be anyway.

They have no reason to make a TV when they can sell 100x more AppleTV pucks at $100 and make tons of money via iTunes. I fully expect an AppleTV update with 1080p and whatever CPU is in the new iPad. This will finally make it a useful platform.

I am not a big fan of apple TV as is slow no content.... pay content offered for free by other services.

Thanks for the input I really doubted people would be willing to pay for a 10k apple TV but it is apple I mean. LG already makes Oled TVs and they are apples display provider so I don't think it is off the table.


I wan't an Oled super bad.... guess I will just have to settle for mass effect 3.

Djeet

The reason why apple won't do a $10K tv is because they'd price themselves out of the popular consumer market. Apple hardware typically commands a premium of 20-50% over their commoditized competition, resulting in their regular 30-35% gross margin. So in the $2K tv space I'd be surprised if an apple competing product would be more than $3K.

KPC

There's no reason to make a TV when Apple has a box that connects to a TV and a connection between that to a Siri and touch-enabled device in your hands.

Stormwatcher

Yeah, your buddy couldn't be any more wrong.

syndalis

I mean, Apple WILL probably have a full blown television on the market someday.

That will not be for some time though, as they would need to come up with a compelling reason for it to be better than the set top box they currently have. Which is now 1080p and has a slick new interface.

Juanthekoreandon

syndalis wrote: »

I mean, Apple WILL probably have a full blown television on the market someday.

That will not be for some time though, as they would need to come up with a compelling reason for it to be better than the set top box they currently have. Which is now 1080p and has a slick new interface.

I can't see people latching on to apple for a home system to much longer personally I think the china deal plus tons of other things are slowly taking away the prestige.

I am super excited for Oleds though I want them everywhere not just because they look better... they are so much better for the environment.

Fiskav

.

syndalis

Juanthekoreandon wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

I mean, Apple WILL probably have a full blown television on the market someday.

That will not be for some time though, as they would need to come up with a compelling reason for it to be better than the set top box they currently have. Which is now 1080p and has a slick new interface.

I can't see people latching on to apple for a home system to much longer personally I think the china deal plus tons of other things are slowly taking away the prestige.

I am super excited for Oleds though I want them everywhere not just because they look better... they are so much better for the environment.

Actually, Apple is one of the better companies out there WRT the China situation - they just happened to be the most public in the recent shuffle.

The Anonymous hack into Foxconn showed that in the same city, they make stuff for HP, Microsoft, Sony, Dell and countless other major tech companies. Companies that do not engage in profit sharing with their workers or do public, open and independent studies on worker conditions.

Apple is gonna do just fine; predicting their doom over this issue is horribly shortsighted, because it means the entire tech industry will have to fall as well.

maximumzero

Fiskav wrote: »

Apple just released their new Apple TV (the little black box) along with the new iPad.

So I wouldn't expect an Apple OLED TV for a while now.

But I agree with @syndalis, that user face is slick. But, my only problem with my Apple TV (2nd gen) is that streaming movies from my Mac is awfully slow.

It's super-slow for me as well...streaming videos from my iMac to my 360 anyway.

Of course I'm running my router in b mode to accommodate my DS & Wii, so that's probably why.

SniperGuy

I'd put money on them having a TV out this year. There's been a ton of rumors about it. The biography of Jobs even mentions them working on one. I also heard a rumor it'd have less of a channel flipping interface and more of an "app" interface. Like, you'd click the CNN button, or the Comedy Central button, rather than going to channel 33 or whatever. Which would be awesome, as would voice control.

Now, 10k? That's waaay too high. Apple does things pricey, but not that pricey.

a5ehren

SniperGuy wrote: »

I'd put money on them having a TV out this year. There's been a ton of rumors about it. The biography of Jobs even mentions them working on one. I also heard a rumor it'd have less of a channel flipping interface and more of an "app" interface. Like, you'd click the CNN button, or the Comedy Central button, rather than going to channel 33 or whatever. Which would be awesome, as would voice control.

Now, 10k? That's waaay too high. Apple does things pricey, but not that pricey.

I still think no way. The AppleTV update is all you're going to see on the home theater front from Apple this year.

The economics of it just don't make sense - Apple doesn't enter mature markets because they can't make their crazy margins there. They entered PCs, Smartphones, MP3 players (and digital downloads), and tablets during early, high-growth periods because they were able to make a product that outclassed the existing products without being too much more expensive.

SniperGuy

a5ehren wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

I'd put money on them having a TV out this year. There's been a ton of rumors about it. The biography of Jobs even mentions them working on one. I also heard a rumor it'd have less of a channel flipping interface and more of an "app" interface. Like, you'd click the CNN button, or the Comedy Central button, rather than going to channel 33 or whatever. Which would be awesome, as would voice control.

Now, 10k? That's waaay too high. Apple does things pricey, but not that pricey.

I still think no way. The AppleTV update is all you're going to see on the home theater front from Apple this year.

The economics of it just don't make sense - Apple doesn't enter mature markets because they can't make their crazy margins there. They entered PCs, Smartphones, MP3 players (and digital downloads), and tablets during early, high-growth periods because they were able to make a product that outclassed the existing products without being too much more expensive.

Right. "Smart" TVs are absolutely in early, high-growth periods right now. TVs with an interface other than flipping channels and such. Wether it will succeed or not is certainly up for grabs, but they've absolutely been working on one and the rumors are flying like mad. See: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/03/13/production_of_apple_television_expected_to_begin_in_mayjune_for_late_2012_launch.html

a5ehren

SniperGuy wrote: »

a5ehren wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

I'd put money on them having a TV out this year. There's been a ton of rumors about it. The biography of Jobs even mentions them working on one. I also heard a rumor it'd have less of a channel flipping interface and more of an "app" interface. Like, you'd click the CNN button, or the Comedy Central button, rather than going to channel 33 or whatever. Which would be awesome, as would voice control.

Now, 10k? That's waaay too high. Apple does things pricey, but not that pricey.

I still think no way. The AppleTV update is all you're going to see on the home theater front from Apple this year.

The economics of it just don't make sense - Apple doesn't enter mature markets because they can't make their crazy margins there. They entered PCs, Smartphones, MP3 players (and digital downloads), and tablets during early, high-growth periods because they were able to make a product that outclassed the existing products without being too much more expensive.

Right. "Smart" TVs are absolutely in early, high-growth periods right now. TVs with an interface other than flipping channels and such. Wether it will succeed or not is certainly up for grabs, but they've absolutely been working on one and the rumors are flying like mad. See: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/03/13/production_of_apple_television_expected_to_begin_in_mayjune_for_late_2012_launch.html

Eh. People make up all kinds of silly Apple rumors all the time.

They certainly have the capability to do it if they wanted to, but I don't know why they would want to try to enter the high-end TV market when they can sell 10x as many AppleTVs and make money off of iTunes. The only way they're going to be able to make the margins they like is to either A) Sell a mid-range TV at a high-end price or Sell a high-end TV for an insane price.

Either way, the high-end TV space is a low-volume, low-margin market that even established players like Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic are struggling to survive in since a low-end Vizio that sells for half the price of their models is good enough for the vast majority of the population.

christian_techy

I'm not interested in Apple OLED TV at all. I was more interested in the 4K Ultra Definition 84 " TV LG announced at CES. It supposedly has all the smart features available on their LM line up as well as 3D. 4K passive is just like watching 3D at the Imax theaters so Im pretty stoked.

Obs++;

Just recently announced:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/05/12/apple_reportedly_in_talks_to_acquire_german_hdtv_maker_loewe.html

a5ehren wrote: »

The only way they're going to be able to make the margins they like is to either A) Sell a mid-range TV at a high-end price or Sell a high-end TV for an insane price.

Look beyond the core product. If this was just about TVs, you might be right; the majority of people out there are fine with the low end TVs that simply flip through channels or have basic smart features. But it's not just about pretty pictures. An Apple TV will likely do things that no other TV on the market can currently do, and that's what you pay a premium for.

Even better: No other TV manufacturer could even catch up to Apple any time soon simply because they don't have their infrastructure; They don't have iTunes, they don't have a developer ecosystem, they don't have other products to interface with. On top of that, the business model is likely going to be more complex than just selling TVs. There will likely be advertising deals and a more expanded iTunes market. TV providers today can display content just fine, but they don't have much control over what can be shown.

If there is true value in an Apple TV set, then it will sell. Doesn't matter how crowded the market is, the only thing a crowded market does is slow down the rate of penetration.

a5ehren

Obs++; wrote: »

Just recently announced:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/05/12/apple_reportedly_in_talks_to_acquire_german_hdtv_maker_loewe.html

Buying a tiny TV maker that slaps a pretty frame on a Sharp panel and charges a big markup seems unnecessary for Apple since I assume that's pretty much what an "Apple TV" would be.

Obs++; wrote: »

a5ehren wrote: »

The only way they're going to be able to make the margins they like is to either A) Sell a mid-range TV at a high-end price or Sell a high-end TV for an insane price.

Look beyond the core product. If this was just about TVs, you might be right; the majority of people out there are fine with the low end TVs that simply flip through channels or have basic smart features. But it's not just about pretty pictures. An Apple TV will likely do things that no other TV on the market can currently do, and that's what you pay a premium for.

Even better: No other TV manufacturer could even catch up to Apple any time soon simply because they don't have their infrastructure; They don't have iTunes, they don't have a developer ecosystem, they don't have other products to interface with. On top of that, the business model is likely going to be more complex than just selling TVs. There will likely be advertising deals and a more expanded iTunes market. TV providers today can display content just fine, but they don't have much control over what can be shown.

If there is true value in an Apple TV set, then it will sell. Doesn't matter how crowded the market is, the only thing a crowded market does is slow down the rate of penetration.

And what would it do that a $99 AppleTV doesn't? I'm guessing if they do do something, it will be arbitrary software features (voice control, manipulate screen via iPad, etc) that the current AppleTV could easily support if Apple wanted it to.

Obs++;

The $99 AppleTV's processing power is not unlimited...

Djeet

It's not like Apple has done anything crazy like slapping a mac to a large monitor and putting it in a pretty case with a webcam and mic ...

a5ehren

Obs++; wrote: »

The $99 AppleTV's processing power is not unlimited...

All the processing for Siri is done in their datacenter in North Carolina - the only thing that keeps it from being done on the iPhone 4 is software. Mirroring the screen to an iPad would essentially be reverse AirPlay, which already works fine on the current AppleTV. 1080p video decode and all the other needed features also already work fine on the current AppleTV. If they needed more processing power, they would have made the new AppleTV have the A5X from the iPad 3 and charged a little more for it.

It's not like Apple has done anything crazy like slapping a mac to a large monitor and putting it in a pretty case with a webcam and mic ...

Yes, but they don't need to spend $200M to buy a company to do that. PCs are also a completely different industry and the iMac was/is a compelling product that commands a premium over existing products in the marketplace.

Samsung and others already sell TVs that have essentially no bezel (and apps, voice command, etc, not that any of it is any good) and they are hemorrhaging cash from their TV divisions.

Djeet

Why would they need to buy a company? Why wouldn't they secure a parts supply chain and farm out assembly to Foxconn or some other manufacturer like they do every other bit of hardware they produce?

Obs++;

Lack of domain expertise.

a5ehren

Obs++; wrote: »

Lack of domain expertise.

They already assemble PC displays, though, which aren't terribly different from modern TVs (buy the panel, put a logic board in it, and design/make the bezel). The only thing that a TV has in it that they don't already know how to make would be an ATSC antenna tuner, which would be trivial to implement (and something a Loewe acquisition would do nothing to help since they only sell in Europe).

I just don't understand why they would need to buy some German boutique TV maker to get in the business.

I also don't understand why they would want to get in the TV business either, but it seems like it's going to happen at this point.

Obs++;

People said the same thing about Apple and the mobile phone business.

a5ehren

Obs++; wrote: »

People said the same thing about Apple and the mobile phone business.

Well those people were dumb. Any moron could see that there was plenty of growth opportunities in the smartphone business and the existing solutions were not going to get it done.

I'm going to quote myself from earlier in the thread:

The economics of it just don't make sense - Apple doesn't enter mature markets because they can't make their crazy margins there. They entered PCs, Smartphones, MP3 players (and digital downloads), and tablets during early, high-growth periods because they were able to make a product that outclassed the existing products without being too much more expensive.

The HDTV market is a mature market that is in a completely different competitive situation than any other market that Apple has succeeded in.