There have been rumors of an Apple iTV for quite some time, and we’re likely going to be hearing a lot more about it as the year goes on. So far, there’s no solid confirmation that Apple is even working on an Apple branded television set, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
According to his recent letter to investors,*Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster*has had conversations with a major TV component supplier, who indicated that Apple is indeed working on its own television.
As has been mentioned before, the hardware of the TV is the simple part. Apple is great at building fantastic, functional products, but the content deals are another story. Munster believes that an Apple iTV has already been prototyped, and the current hold up is on the content end.
The supplier that Munster spoke with said that Apple made contact and asked about the capabilities of their television display components, which is in line with other reports of Apple contacting manufacturers in Asia and rumors of existing prototypes.
On the basis of this information, Munster predicts that on the hardware end, a connected Apple TV could be ready for launch by the end of this year, but that the timeline and scope of a content solution were more nebulous. We’ve heard very little about potential content deals, which means an actual late 2012 release is looking more and more unlikely. Of course, Apple is always full of surprises, so a 2012 iTV can’t be ruled out completely.