Apple That

With the recent success of Google’s expenditure into the realm of televisions, it appears that Apple may be looking to do the same thing. Yes, you heard that right, Apple may soon be trying to sell you a tv along with the next generation iPad, Mac, iPhone and iPod.

The people over at DailyTech were recently seen quoting an unnamed “former Apple executive” who stated that Apple was planning on entering the television market by the end of this year. According to the source, Apple is planning to “blow Netflix and all those other guys away” with a console that would feature Apple TV and iTunes built directly into it.

The report also stated that Apple plans on teaming up with an existing manufacturer in order to provide televisions branded under the Apple name. “You’ll go into an Apple retail store and be able to walk out with a TV,” said the former executive. “It’s perfect.”

Some people, like Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, are pretty positive on Apple entering the $100 billion LCD TV market. According to White, “In our view, the combination of Apple’s powerful ecosystem, industrial design savvy, powerful brand and ability to reinvent product categories could make Apple a powerful force in the TV world in the coming years.”

Apple currently makes an Apple TV device that, due to recent successes of the iPhone and iPad, has done very poorly with regard to standards set forth by Apple. This system was first introduced in 2007 and is a box-like device that allows users to stream web content, like Netflix, to their televisions. However, even Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, was eventually forced to admit that the technology never really caught on.

Apple drastically cut the price of the Apple TV device last September from $299 to $99  but even that wasn’t able to make the service a household name. If Apple does manage to make a move into the TV market, it would put the company even closer to its biggest rival, Google.

Google TV is a very similar product to the current Apple TV but Google is widely expected to expand its service by integrating it with actual televisions. Apple, as always, did not immediately respond to requests for comments on this so I guess we will just have to wait until the end of the year to find out what is really going on.

Source: CNN – Apple to start making TVs, report says