In his latest “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark reiterates his previous report that Apple is back to evaluating the idea of making its own HDTV as part of a smart home push.
The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) is skeptical as Apple abandoned such plans years ago, and I can’t see a good reason for those plans to return. And Mark seems to agree.
“Is it possible that the company actually does it this time around? Well, the economics of the television business haven’t changed,” he says. “If anything, TVs have become more commoditized, and the business has become even less compelling. And Apple hasn’t grown more willing to take risky bets.”
Gurman thinks that, iInstead of a full TV set, the tech giant should create the building blocks for an Apple living room setup. That starts with making an HDMI streaming stick that can rival the Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV Stick.
“Those devices now sell for under $50 and are capable enough to run full operating systems,” Mark says. “If Apple offered a cheap and quick way to access tvOS, the App Store and services on any TV, it could quickly create a foothold and increase its services revenue.
This info from Gurman is from the free edition of “Power On”. If you like it, consider subscribing to Bloomberg.com—you’ll receive the newsletter earlier and get exclusive access to a Q&A section.
