Apple has been rumored to be working on an Apple TV Display for years, but it never materialized. Was there any reason? A lot of people are wondering what the heck is going on with Apple’s TV plans, as the company seems to have abandoned its hardware ambitions in favor of being a software company. But why would they do that? It’s not like iPhone and iPad sales are slowing down anytime soon! Lots of people wonder if Apple will ever make a TV display or stick with just creating an ecosystem for other companies to build TVs in their likeness.
Steve Jobs had told Isaacson that he’d like to create an integrated television set that is easy to use. Which would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud, In Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. We thought Apple was doing a TV, instead of planning to improve its Apple TV set-top box.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal story, Apple was indeed working on a TV, but the project was dropped over a year ago. Turns out that the prototype TV Apple had been probably used more to explore design issues around a set-top box.
Would it be a good idea for Apple to get into the Apple TV Displays market?
It would be a mistake for Apple to create an actual TV. There’s cutthroat competition in the TV market, with rivals like Vizio, Samsung, LG and others, all fighting for the pie. Apple would have a tough time as the majority of TVs sold are in the $500-$1250 range and the margins are thin. One of Jobs’s principles in governing Apple was that no product would be created unless he could get at least 20 points in margin. For a display, it would be hard to squeeze out 10 points.
The average life cycle for a TV in the home is seven-10 years, the speed at which technology advances a TV would be outdated in just a few years. Despite these advancements, people might not upgrade their TV every year like an iPhone.
TV nowadays is just a screen for delivering content and the definition of content is changing at a fast rate. In the earlier days TV only had to handle over-the-air broadcast signals, but now it has to deal with new user interfaces, web browsers, advanced intelligence, and multiple forms of streaming media.
So instead of investing in a dumb monitor, Apple investing in streaming boxes is a good move. Cause looking for a TV now includes just the highest screen resolution and the most HDMI ports. Though almost all the present TVs are smart TVs external boxes like Apple TV provide an even smarter operating system and interactive interface.
The new Apple TV 4K provides the best of TV with everyone’s favorite Apple devices and services. So Apple TVs are cherry on the top for any smart TVs out there. If you liked this article (or if it helped at all), please leave us a comment below or share it with friends, so they can understand why Apple doesn’t make TVs.
