'I finally cracked it' remark by Jobs fires Apple TV speculation
A remark by Steve Jobs in his new biography has raised to fever pitch speculation that Apple is developing a TV set - may actually have prototypes - as reported earlier by The Drum.
Steve Jobs
In the book Jobs tells the author Walter Isaacson, "I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. ... It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."
Analysts who have already been quizzing Asian manufacturers to find out if Apple is looking for television parts now say that Apple will release television sets no later than 2013.
In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reiterates that his firm has met with Asian suppliers - and that they have confirmed Apple "is investing in manufacturing facilities and securing supply for LCD displays" Prototypes are already believed to be in the works.
Munster sayst his firm has "long believed that Apple was planning to launch an all-in-one television in late 2012 or 2013.
"Taking into account Apple's television-related patents, the desire for parts and the Jobs' quote, Munster concludes that Apple is nearing
introduction of televisions and could sell 1.4 million units in 2012.
Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White has also released a note saying the Jobs quote fits in with his company's claims earlier this year.
"We were the first on the Street to actually uncover concrete evidence that an Apple Smart TV was already flowing through factories over in China in early stage pilot and prototype production," he writes.
A Drum story last month , quoted Ben Kunz, director of Internet strategy firm Mediassociates, as saying that an Apple TV could be available in the US by Christmas next year. Kunz , writing in Bloomberg Business Week, thought it could be a hologram tv based on a patent held by Apple.