Apple's effort to upend the television market isn't a sure thing, analysts said. Many of the features that it is expected to include on Apple TV -- an app store, voice search, a more powerful processor and a motion-sensing remote -- are already available on other devices, they noted. Meanwhile, Roku, which has some 2,000 channels available for its boxes, is likely to maintain its lead on Apple for the time being, Erickson said.
The bigger problem facing the new Apple TV could be its price, analysts said. Reports suggest that Apple will price the device at $150. That's not only $50 more than what the company charged for its previous Apple TV, until it discounted it earlier this year, but it's $100 more than what the streaming sticks are selling for.
At that price, Apple could have a hard time finding buyers other than its most loyal fans, said Barbara Kraus, an analyst who covers the connected device market for Parks Associates.
"I guess I don't see anything here that makes me think that this is a game changer," Kraus said.
From the article "Apple TV could be star of Wednesday's show" by Troy Wolverton.
Analysts say Roku has shown great upside by diversifying its revenue away from chiefly hardware to partnerships and advertising over its platform. "Over the past two-and-a-half years, Roku has expa...
But as it races to keep up with Netflix and Disney, AT&T increasingly has treated the satellite business as something of a relic, akin to rabbit-ear antennas. “They are at a crossroads,” said Steve...
Virtual reality needs its own kind of Web browser because the Web currently is designed for 2D, said Hunter Sappington, a researcher with Parks Associates. "As solutions like Mozilla's become more...
Turning the new Chromecast into a fully fledged Android TV device could also be an important retail addition as Google attempts to cut into the streaming platform lead of Roku (36.9 million active acc...
