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

#TBT: Rated ‘M’ for mobile; Before Alexa, there was Jeeves and SMS search… this week in 2005

DALLAS-The number of households that use Wi-Fi technology for home networking has now surpassed the number that use Ethernet, according to a new Parks Associates survey. According to the “Global Digit...

GPS trackers are leaking info on your kids: What to do

A growing number of consumers (79%, according to Parks & Associates research), are concerned about privacy in their smart devices. CNET has made privacy and security a much bigger factor when reviewin...

About 20% of U.S. broadband households get live TV through an antenna, Parks Associates says

The percentage of U.S. broadband households that use digital antennas in their homes increased to 20% near the end of 2017, up from 16% in early 2015, according to Parks Associates. "Increasingly,...

Apple’s TV service faces its biggest test yet as free trials run out

Apple reducing its reliance on free trials for Apple TV+ is a “critical point” for the service, said Parks Associates research director Steve Nason, who follows the streaming industry. “For newer o...

‹
1
2
...
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
...
719
720
›