In The News

Apple TV Upgrade: Upside Limited Without Content

September 07, 2015

Apple has been working for some time on a cable killer, and is looking to combine broadcast and select cable networks for a cheaper, better-looking bundle. But that isn’t the extent of the company’s content ambitions: As Variety reported exclusively, the company has even made overtures to execs in Hollywood about producing its own original programming, with the goal of building out a production unit that could one day churn out TV shows or even movies.

But no Apple originals are in the foreseeable future, and negotiations with networks to license channels have been slow-moving, forcing the company to postpone the launch of the service until some time in 2016.

Without that content infusion, Apple TV is just another box — and an expensive one: Numerous leaks point to a base model launch price of $149.

That’s significantly more than the competition, which already has been eating Apple’s lunch with cheap boxes and streaming sticks. Roku, whose entry-level devices retail for just $50, sold 34% of all streaming devices in the U.S. in 2014. Apple TV’s market share was just 13%, according to data from Parks Associates, which also has sales of Google’s Chromecast streaming stick and Amazon’s Fire TV devices surpassing those of Apple’s hockey puck.

Consumers are voting with their wallets, argued Parks Associates research director Barbara Kraus: “If I just want to stream, I can do that with a $35 stick.”

From the article "Apple TV Upgrade: Upside Limited Without Content" by Janko Roettgers.

Previously In The News

AT&T-Time Warner Deal: A Good Merger In The New Media Era Or A Bad Remake?

Pay-TV operators are seeing a "slow erosion of the core business," analyst Brett Sappington at Parks Associates said. "After years of attempts to be more than just a 'dumb pipe,' pay-TV operators h...

Walmart Says It Completed Nationwide Rollout Of WalmartPay, 88% Of Users Are Repeat Customers

A recent study by Dallas-based Parks Associates found that 25% of smartphone owners in the U.S. use mobile platforms at least once a month. While Apple Pay and Android Pay are accepted by nearly 3 mil...

Extra Miles For Fitness Trackers

Marketing for RecycleHealth got an unexpected boost from an applicant to the digital health communication certificate program, who volunteered her design skills and did a photo shoot of donated device...

The Era Of IoT: Opportunities For Privacy And Security Providers

The Internet of Things (IoT) growth in broadband households opens up opportunities for companies to sell products and services. Companies developing, manufacturing, and marketing products benefit, and...

‹
1
2
...
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
...
719
720
›