In a note to clients — as reported by “CNET” — investment bank J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz says you shouldn’t expect an Apple-branded HDTV (the rumored “iTV”) until 2014. He thinks the move will happen in two steps.
First, Apple would expand its current TV box by launching a more advanced set-top module sometime in 2013 at the earliest. Then the company could unveil a full-blown TV with a display and speakers in 2014 or later.
“We believe that the economics of the TV industry are strained, despite there being suitable offerings from the likes of Sony, Sharp, and Samsung,” Moskowitz says. “Overall, we would be surprised to see Apple enter a new market unless the value proposition could support double-digit operating margins. In TVs, that bogey is rather elusive, in our view.”
For customers to shell out money for an iTV — which the analyst thinks will cost more than a typical TV — the typical user interface would have to be redesigned, TV programs and digital content would need to be better integrated, and voice and gesture controls would have to be part of the package. However, if “any company can radically alter the TV landscape, it is Apple,” he adds.
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