Apple Television Set Prototype Already in Production?
Apple is building a television prototype, according to analyst Gene Munster.
Munster of Piper Jaffray, an investment bank and institutional securities firm, made the revelation to his clients in a note.
Munster said Apple has prototypes for a television in its possession. He also said Apple is "investing in manufacturing facilities and securing supply for LCD displays."
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Munster backed his suspicions with various quotes from Steve Jobs' biography. Munster also used an excerpt from the book to champion his thesis on the matter, which he has proclaimed since 2009.
"I'd like to create an integrated television set," Jobs told Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs’ biographer. "It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud... It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."
Munster even gave investors and client’s specific information on Apple's television prototype.
“We believe that of the estimated 220m flat panel TVs sold in 2012, 48% or 106m units will be internet-connected, of which Apple could sell 1.4m units,” wrote Munster in the note. “We believe an Apple Television could add $2.5b or 2% to revenue in CY12, $4.0b or 3% in CY13 and $6.0b in CY14."
Munster claimed that Apple may have patented technology to enable the television, and that the television could be worth $2.5 billion in 2012 and $6 billion by 2014.
According to Munster, the patents filed relate to “software for browsing and recording live television.” He also said they are not related to the Apple TV console.
Steve Jobs has said that an Apple television could be "seamlessly synced with all your devices and with iCloud."
Siri may also play a part in Apple's television, so users could voice command their television to sort through show titles.
Despite all claims, this is not the first time rumors have surfaced over an Apple television.
Earlier reports have stated that a former Apple executive claimed a device would be introduces this fall, and it would "blow Netflix and all those other guys away."
