Analyst sees Apple's tablet as more media player than book reader

In a report issued to clients Friday, RBC spoke of the opportunities their executives see in the emerging video space.

Mike Abramsky met with Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president for iTunes and Internet services, David Moody, vice president for worldwide Mac marketing and CFO Peter Oppenheimer.  While he didn’t get any straight talk, he did get their impressions of "market opportunities".

Video/Content Opportunities. After music, video content is expected to be the next "exploding" opportunity, but requires overcoming industry rights dysfunctionality, competing with subsidies (cable box, video), and developing the right consumer "offer". Apple TV, while still a "hobby", is well positioned to benefit from evolving market dynamics. Apple was less enthusiastic about the online book/newspaper market, given unattractive industry structure.

It also appears that the Apple TV mystery deepens.  Many were put off by the minute scope of yesterday’s AppleTV update, especially after two years since the last major upgrade (Take Two).  Perhaps Apple is being slowed by the movie/TV industry which is overcome by "rights dysfunctionality"?  Hopefully, along with the tablet, we’ll see a real AppleTV product.