We are so impressed by Apple’s great marketing (iPod, iMac, iPhone) that we sometimes forget that Apple doesn’t always hit a home run. Witness the dismal failure that is Apple TV. (some people forget that Apple had a Mac TV product that also had a dismal past) Perhaps Apple should have stuck with iTV as the name…)
Link: AppleInsider | First year Apple TV sales fall below expectations.
Here is another great story that tries to get to the bottom of why Apple (and for that matter other all-in-one TV/Computers) seem to fail.
You don’t need a home run to win a baseball game. Even a walk to first base can win the game if it is tied and the bases are loaded at the bottom of the 9th.
The Apple TV pretty much requires one of the newer digital type of TVs. I think the most of the TVs in use are still of the older analog type. That will change as the price of digital TVs continues to come down and then we may see the sales of Apple TV, or similar devices going up.
Suppose at the MacWorld Expo keynote speech that Steve announces a new Apple TV that works with analog or digital and the price has dropped to $199
Thanks Perry,
You are right of course. But the problem isn’t with the TVs, I think. It’s that there isn’t a clearly defined problem that Apple TV solves. The iPod solved the problem of easily getting all your music into your pocket just by momentarily plugging it into your Mac or PC.
But TVs have no problem getting video onto them. It’s called your cable box, DVD player, satellite, even rabbit ears. Apple TV actually makes the process more complex. BUY a video from iTunes THEN wait for it to stream to Apple TV THEN watch it. And you need to hook yet another device up to your pretty flat TV.
[One dirty little secret about those pretty flat TVs that hang on the wall…where do you hide all your components, like Apple TV, that need to hook up to them?]
I agree that Apple will refine Apple TV. Let’s hope they put a Blue-Ray/HD DVD player in the next one, upgrade its signal to full 1080P HD, and allow other TVs in the house (and new iPods) to wirelessly access the Apple TV signal to view (and copy) content on the go.
Movie rentals, if done right, could elevate Apple TV. Give me purchase access through the device. I don’t want to go back to the Mac to get new content. If you can do it on an iPhone surely you can do it with an Apple TV.
To follow the metaphor, Apple TV might still be a single or a walk, and Movie Rentals through the iTunes Store could be the double or triple that brings in the run.
While I agree that the Apple Tv’s shortcomings make it more of a speculative buy, I find it amazing that they may sell almost a million of these with NO advertising.
They must be counting on POS decisions and people who are buying iPods and then assuming they can extend that functionality with an AppleTV.
Had Apple given this any attention from a marketing standpoint, they would have easily sold more. However, that would not make it a better product or a success, in my opinion.
Even Steve Jobs has lowered the expectations by calling it a hobby. My guess is that Apple TV 2.0 is coming soon. I am sure that between the iPhone and Leopard, they did not have the resources to make 2.0 for the holidays. Besides, why dilute the attention from Leopard and the iPhone. If they do this right, they will bring out another product the could dominate a new category for them.
The book has yet to be written on this product. The potential is too great and HD on iTunes can’t be that far away.
I agree with Scotty when he says that Apple TV 2.0 is in the offing, maybe this January at MacWorld Expo. At the same time we may see video rentals from the iTunes Store which could be a grand slam. A fast enough download speed that delivers a good enough quality video would be needed.