Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster has kicked the dust off an old rumor and said loudly that an iOS TV set will be the successor to the current Apple TV, and that it’ll land in 2012.
Munster has been one of the biggest proponents of an Apple TV set and has been writing about the possibility for a bit over two years. In a note to clients issued Thursday morning, he laid out a new roadmap for the set and put the puzzle pieces together.
- iCloud. “At first the only media iCloud will store is music and pictures, but we believe Apple may add movies and TV shows purchased or rented in iTunes to the iCloud service, which could be viewed on a TV.”
-The App Store. “Apple has sold over 200 [million] iOS devices, has over 225 [million] iTunes accounts with credit cards, and developers have built over 425 [thousand] apps for the App Store in less than three years, including 90 [thousand] apps made specifically for the iPad in just 14 months as iPad unit sales reached over 25 [million]. In other words, Apple’s strong iOS developer community would likely jump at the chance to build apps for an Apple Television, and Apple’s iOS users would likely jump at the chance to buy one.”
- Big screens. “Recent developments in Apple’s strategy, including the component deal we believe could secure up to 50” LCD displays, bolsters our confidence that the company remains serious about the connected living room.”
- Patents. “As recently as May, 2011 the US Patent & Trademark Office has published Apple patents relating to television-specific technology. In a patent published in January, 2011, Apple explores advanced TV broadcast menus that could be used in ‘a display with built-in functionality (eg, a television).’” There are also rumors of a 3D patent that projects a 3D image on a wall and adjusts it to a user’s eyes by tracking them with two cameras.
Future projections say Apple could sell millions of TV sets in its first quarter and that the cost will start around $2000.
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