Bloomberg reported that Apple will hold their media event on 7th September in which they will unveil their new iPod lineup, iTV and TV show rentals. Peter Burrows of Bloomberg follows up today’s earlier report that Apple does not expect the upcoming version of Apple TV to be a great hit just like some of their other iDevices because most people aren’t ready to dump their cable TV and shift to content which would be provided by Apple with their new plans.
My sense is that Apple doesn’t plan to overplay its hand, by making too much of this mobile TV opportunity. This isn’t another “revolution” in the making. Even if Apple wanted to try for that, studios have all but nullified the possibility by refusing to let Apple sell subscriptions to your favorite shows, to be watched whenever and as many times as you like.
The report mentions that Apple will initially provide this video rental service so that they can “catch-up viewing” which would allow their users to watch their favorite shows which they missed can also try out shows recommend by their friends.
The report also claims that Steve Jobs has only modest expectations with the potential sales of the device.
Even with the refresh, Jobs isn’t convinced the new version will be a mainstream hit, says the person familiar with Apple’s plans. Most consumers aren’t ready to cut the cord to their cable company, or put up with the tech-nastics required to stream content from the iTunes collection on their PC to their living room big-screen TV. In other words, it’s a product that at best will delight some of the “hobbyists” that have always been interested in the product.
iTV, with the rumored price of $99, sounds like a good deal. The rumors about TV show rental service also surfaced in the early part of this month which is good for those who want to watch their shows without following TV timings. iTV and TV rental service might not have a good number of audience in its early days that’s why not too many people are excited about this product.
[via AppleInsider]
This is another move for Apple to get a grip on a particular market from start to end.. i.e. sell the hardware, sell the consumable media (even though networks will get the biggest cut of that pie). This model will work if the networks all get on board. It’s just going to take some time to see what plays out next week.