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Alcaraz Research: the next gen Apple TV could rival the Xbox One, PlayStation 4

The smart money says a next generation Apple TV will be announced at Apple’s Sept. 9 media event. In a Seeking Alpha article, Alcaraz Research says it could rival the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

9to5Mac claims the Apple TV 4 will go on sale in October for under US$200 and will offer Siri support, a new remote control, an App Store (with, among other things, games) with a software development kit for developers, and a refreshed user interface. It will also be ready for Apple’s television streaming service, which will arrive in 2016, the article adds.

Apple “has the patents, engineers, hardware/software assets, and the marketing savvy to sell a potent rival to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4,” says Alcaraz Research. And it has good reason to do so: console gaming is still a $13 billion/year industry, according to the industry-tracking firm, The NPD Group.

“Even though Apple generates most of its profit from selling high-priced iPhones, selling higher-margin connected TV boxes is a notable diversification move, says the research group. “Aside from the higher hardware margins from a $199 console/TV box, the additional revenue from app/game purchases adds further importance to Apple TV 4.”

Rod Hall, a J.P. Morgan analyst, says a new Apple TV with an Apple TV App Store would give Apple a foothold in the home gaming market. He says that the combined console and PC [personal computer] gaming market is expected to sell US$35 billion worth of software this year. For every 10% of share in this market that Apple could tap into, Hall believes it would add about 1.5% in additional earnings for the company.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.