Included in activist shareholder and investor Carl Icahn’s open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook requesting an increased stock buyback from the company is somewhat of a prediction about when Apple might release an actual Apple TV set, not just an updated set-top box. Icahn sees fiscal year 2016 as an opportunity for Apple to enter the home television market citing an upgrade cycle due to UltraHD displays.
As we highlighted in our previous letter, we believe UltraHD’s (ultra-high-definition television) superior picture quality in comparison to regular HD will drive a major TV replacement cycle as the price gap between them narrows. It should also be noted that Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, has referenced UltraHD as a major catalyst for Netflix going forward, and while this is true for Netflix, we believe it is also true for Apple. Against the backdrop of this replacement cycle, FY 2016 represents an opportune time to introduce an UltraHD TV set.
In his open letter to Tim Cook, Carl Icahn went on to predict that the hypothetical Apple-branded television will be sold in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes averaging $1,500 in price. With those display sizes and that average price point in mind, Icahn forecasts that Apple will sell 12 million TV sets in FY 2016 and 25 million TV sets in FY 2017.
Icahn goes on to cite Apple’s approach to saying no to new products in order to focus on existing ones, but continues to make the case for an UltraHD Apple TV set in FY 2016 using movies and TV shows sold through iTunes as a way to leverage both digital content sales and TV set sales.
Apple could sell UltraHD movies and shows through iTunes over the internet to the UltraHD TV since cable companies will likely be slow to upgrade their expensive linear infrastructure, as one example of an incremental opportunity. Another is the user interface of television, which you humorously (but accurately, in our opinion) described as being “stuck in the 1970s.”
The investor does hedge to a degree in his open letter to Cook, adding that “our earnings estimates would only be revised for FY 2016 and FY 2017” if Apple does not introduce an UltraHD Apple TV set. For Apple, fiscal year 2016 is just a year away as the company begins its fiscal year at the end of September.
While the idea of a big screen UltraHD Apple TV set priced as aggressively as Icahn forecasts sounds appealing, the latest Apple TV set-top box rumors have claimed even that device isn’t expected until next year after being in development for several months as we have reported.
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Apple will price their 55in UltraHD Smart TV at 1500 bucks? Yeah, sure they will
With the way pricing is rapidly dropping on ultra hd sets $1500 for 55″ Apple TV next fall sounds reasonable. LG 55″ ultra hd with web os are going for $1700 now.
LG has always been a major lcd supplier for Apple so the pricing shouldn’t be that much higher then what LG TV sets will be going for next fall.
Apple sells premium products….not mid range brand appliances. An Apple TV with their ecosystem baked in will run you 2500 easy. Apple will never be on the same tier as Vizio.
“Apple will never be on the same tier as Vizio.”
The Vizio 4K starts at $1000. I have no idea what Apple would price their sets at, but $1500 is far above Vizio’s prices.
The world will be a much better place once Carl Icahn is in his grave.
Well he was born in 1936, surely he won´t live for much longer.
Said the guy with the big head…
A month ago I was saying: Apple will NEVER release a Television Set, it is too expensive!
Now – knowing the Apple Watch starts at $349 for a Sport Collection Watch, and that there are also the Edition Collection Watches with 18K Gold – I’m saying: Apple is TOTALLY releasing a Television Set!
A month ago I was saying, you know? You just don’t hear enough of Carl Icahn’s tech forecasting.
Said no one ever.
Stick to talking about stock, Carl. You don’t know anything about Apple’s product roadmap.
Well, if Carl Icahn really understands technology, why he didn’t creates and passes to lead their own technology company to produce real and beneficial goods? And stop with all this bullshit of “activist shareholder”.
So a stock market vulture is now a tech analyst who can “forecast” new products? If I were you Carl, I would just give up on all of it, then maybe our unemployment numbers would get better. Dou**bag…
That’s crazy talk. Betamax lost to VHS. BD lost to DVD. 3D lost to 2D. The world is filled with “higher quality” alternatives that had a price >> value. This is not a smart pursuit for Apple.
Seems unlikely to me. Not unless they’ve made progress with some of their reported issues.
. . . And those TV’s will have Sapphire Screens! :;)
. . . But . . . . They might Bend. ;)
and shave ;o))))
I wish 9to5 would take more of a stance and call out Icahn for his selfish pursuits here
He’s out of touch on the sizes. 55 inch televisions are generally housed in the “small” section of the TV department and have been for at least a couple of years. The cut-off for the “big” TVs is mostly 60 or 65 inches.
If Apple comes out with a TV, I don’t see them making it small enough to put on furniture. They will go for a big wall-mounted TV. Perhaps a “small” 60 inch one and a “large” 80 inch one.
I watch TV on my 14″ CRT monitor, and it’s awesome; why would I need a 55″ TV?
Maybe a family of 4 doesnt want to have to pile on top of each other to watch a 14 inch screen.
Because it’s better. The new TVs are sharper and clearer, and most content nowadays is widescreen so you are missing half the picture with the old CRT.
Apple already makes a TV product. It’s called Apple TV. Why would they make a TV display? That’s a commodity. They won’t. All this nonsense about an Apple television is based on a misinterpretation of what Steve Jobs was quoted saying about the Apple TV in his biography.
Not necessarily. There are many very good reasons for Apple to make a TV set.
Among which is the fact that todays living room entertainment systems are a confusing mess of components and speakers just crying out for an integrated solution. We’ve all been sold a bill of goods by the entertainment industry in regards how it’s necessary to have a stereo, tuner, TV set, various physical media players, cable subscriptions and boxes etc., because the net result of that is good for the manufacturers, and very very good for Hollywood.
None of that is actually necessary and will no doubt disappear someday in favour of an integrated product. It’s just a matter of who’s going to be first in making such a product. Since integration of complex technologies into a single, iconic product is what Apple does best, they would be literally insane not to be working on a TV set in their labs right now.
It’s not going to happen because Apple won’t make any money on it. There’s absolutely no way that Apple will release a TV set with the profit margins that they demand and still make money. Televisions do not make money because people won’t pay what Apple would want. That’s fact. This “rumor” has been circulating for YEARS and not a single shred of evidence has ever been put forth to justify this rumor. Not one.
If you think nothing is necessary like a external speakers and set top boxes you’ve been throughly brainwashed by Apple. There’s absolutely no way an integrated product makes any sense because the sound will be utter piss poor, having everything integrated into one huge and unwieldy TV makes no sense for repairs and replacing a whole TV set for a messed up speaker simply isn’t going to happen.
You people WANT it to be true but NOTHING you say makes any sense. If you think an integrated TV with speakers, tuners, set top boxes and so on are the right solution then you really need to seek help for your brainwashed condition. Notwithstanding all that nonsense, there’s no money in televisions and haven’t been for a decade. It’s not going to happen, get over it.
This is the same rich fuck who keeps whining about Apple’s cash horde because he wants a cut of it. He knows nothing about what makes Apple great, all he’s doing is manipulating the stock price so he can make more money. If he could make more money by driving Apple to make pretty Windows boxes and Android phones, that’s what he would do. He is a parasite. While Apple represents the pinnacle of capitalism, Icahn represents the fetid sewer of capitalist decay.
Apple TV is a stupid idea. Why would Apple want to compete in a commodity market with razor thin margins? The current Apple TV device is where Apple is headed, they can improve it and cut deals with studios for their own distribution network.
I agree on both points – Icahn is a parasite, no matter what company he sets his eyes on he pushes them to make moves they’re not willing/ready to do just to make him a profit. As for a true Apple TV, I’m sure they have something else up their sleeves we do not know about, otherwise there wouldn’t be a huge reason to buy it if it’s only the current Apple TV software baked into a 4k TV set. It appears they aren’t going to be able to get the cable companies on board with replacing a set top box, nor for allowing streaming content packages without a cable subscription. So what else can they do to truly innovate? Since the Jobs bio came out where Jobs hinted at fixing the remote/input with a TV there have been a ton of other companies with voice search that works pretty well, it’s improving all the time. I’m eager to see what Apple does, but it’s likely going to be far above my price range. Apple also has to take into account people do not upgrade their TV’s as often as they do phones or computers.
I don’t know how Icahn has avoided insider trading charges with all of the public stock manipulation he does. Or I should say I do know how he stays out of prison – money.
55 and 65 is a bit big isn’t it? I’m thinking 45 and 55 would be more appealing..