Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will not launch its revamped TV in 2014, according to a report from the Information, citing a source. According to the report, the engineers working on the device were updated that there will be a delay in the product launch due to continuous contractual issues with cable companies and Comcast’s delayed acquisition of Time Warner Cable.
Is Apple to blame for delay?
Rumors of a revamped Apple TV are doing rounds for several months now, suggesting that the new device would include support for games and apps along with an expanded expansion to television content.
Apple TV is said to be packed with some of the ground-breaking innovations, and it was also believed that the company will create a subscription television service that would supersede the cable packages. However, in the wake of failed deals with cable companies, Apple has abandoned its television targets and decided to work in-line with the cable companies rather than against them.
However, sources in the television rule out the rumors that cable companies have to do something with the delay, saying that Apple has “bit off more than it can chew,” and requires accessing rights from many different rights holders to “create the service it wants to offer,” according to Macrumors.
Long wait for Apple TV
In February 2014, there were reports that Apple is trying to work as a mediator between cable companies and consumers, by offering content from cable companies through its set-top box, overlaid with an Apple TV style interface. Also, the company will add DVR capabilities to the service. Back in 2013, the iPhone maker was almost on the edge of closing a deal with the Time Warner Cable over a possible TWC Apple TV app, which would have offered the subscribers to watch live television through the Apple TV, but the deal could not be finalized due to delayed Time Warner-Comcast merger.
In 2014, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicated that an updated Apple TV would be launched in the third-quarter, but according to the very recent report from the Information the date has been readjusted to the future.
Apple has cut a silent deal with CNBC, which surfaced on the Apple TV home screen, on Tuesday, alongside Netflix, and HULU Plus. The deal states that anyone with an Internet connection can watch the recent bits from Squawk Box or Jim Cramer’s Mad Money.
