Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) might be planning to launch a new Apple TV at a special event to be held on September 10th, a recent bill of lading from the U.S. Department of Homeland security suggests.
According to the bill of lading, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received three shipments of “Set Top Boxes” from a recognized partner in China, which provides some strength to the speculation that the Cupertino-based company might unveil the new product in the upcoming event.
Apple received three shipments in August
Panjiva (via GigaOm), a global trade research firm, looked into the bills that reveal Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received the consignment from mid to late August from BYD Precision Manufacture in Shenzhen, China. On every bill, the product mentioned was some form of “Set Top boxes.”
Apple received the first shipment on August 11 carrying a title “Set Top Box with Communication Function,” followed by second consignment on August 18 with words “Set Top Boxes”, and the last one with “Set Top Box with Communication Function” on August 25. The size of each shipment was large enough; the first one being 7.04 metric tons, and the other two weighted 16.63 metric tons each.
Further, the Panjiva Shipment Search Tool also suggests that apart from these three consignments, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) received just one shipment from BYD, which was of a “PC Portable” on August 18. Last year, in December, Hon Hai supplied “Set Top Boxes” to Apple. The units in this shipment were engraved with model No A1427, model number found on the current-generation Apple TVs.
It’s been a while since Apple refreshed Apple TV
Apple has increased the pace of updates for its current set top box, and has added channels such as Vevo, Disney, Weather and Smithsonian in late August. The last time Apple upgraded its Apple TV product was in March 2012, adding 1080p output to the unit while retaining the prior model’s design.
Suspense may be over soon
However, something that Panjiva is not sure about is the exact shape and size of the Set Top Boxes. So it is quite possible that these boxes could be an upgrade to the existing ones or it can be a whole new device, which no one could guess yet.
On Tuesday, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released the invitations for the September 10 event where company is expected to showcase the next generation iPhone and a low cost budget iPhone.
