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Apple TV abandons TV set, focuses on streaming.

Plans for a new TV set from Apple were ditched a year ago.

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Apple TV abandoned plans for a TV set that was expected to feature a camera for video calls, after deciding the features were not compelling enough to take on Samsung.

The decision was made a year ago according to the Wall Street Journal.

Instead it is tipped to make development announcements at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. A new set-top streaming box is expected later this year that will come with a touch pad for navigating the interface and streaming TV for US viewers of ABC, CBS and FOX -including on iOS devices.

CNET reports there have been no signs such a product is close to ready, which largely has been attributed to difficulties securing content deals at reasonable rates.

But billionaire investor Carl Icahn wrote an open letter to Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook about company valuation, revealing a TV set may not be completely off the table.

“Apple is poised to enter and in our view dominate two new categories (the television next year and the automobile by 2020) with a combined addressable market of $2.2 trillion, a view investors don’t appear to factor into their valuation at all,” Icahn wrote.

In Australia TenPlay, FOX Sports, Stan and Netflix are amongst the few local content players available on Apple TV.

6 Responses

  1. I think there did a lot of R&D on a TV set but found the cost would be too high, it’s one thing to get into Smartphone and watches but hardware wise there is little Apple can do to add to a physical TV set. It’s much better for them to keep the existing Apple TV unit and update that to have add steaming services, which is where the big profits will be in the future. It’s just like how they got people used to the downloading music and made it easy.

    I’m not saying Apple will reinvent how we use steaming but along with the Apple Music/Movies store it’s in a prime position to add streaming to this. And with the tiny Apple TV box they have an easy way for people to add it to there existing TV sets at little up front cost and without competing directly with the likes of Samsung.

    BTW I wish we could get the ABCs iView on Apple TV.

    1. They already do have streaming services on Apple TV with
      Netflix, Stan, Crackle, TenPlay, Qello, podcasts, music, cooking shows, Vevo, TED, gossip, sport and news channels, etc. It would be good if Presto, Quickflix and the catch up channels from the other networks were on there.

      1. Yes I know they have those services which they supply through the Apple TV but this would be Apples own service, which is the next logical step with their current iTunes services.

    2. “BTW I wish we could get the ABCs iView on Apple TV.”

      But surely everyone who has an AppleTV has another iOS device? And therefore you can use AirPlay to stream iView from your iPhone or iPad to your large-screen television?

      1. I know you left this comment ages ago so may not see this! But I find AirPlay really glitchy. It’s great when it works but it does often drop out and I don’t think it’s just my devices, other people I know have the same issue.

  2. Rumours of an Apple TV set have been an annual thing for … what, 6 or 7 years now? … and there’s never ever been the slightest bit of evidence, or even a hint from Apple, that they were ever working on one.

    I don’t believe it was cancelled ‘a year ago’. I don’t believe it ever existed.

    (Mind you, I thought the rumours of an Apple Watch were nothing more than an elaborate scam to get Samsung et al. to chase their tails & waste millions on pointless R&D. Got that wrong, didn’t I ;))

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