Apple has reportedly shelved its plans to develop a UHDTV after executives acknowledged that there is hardly any innovation the company can do in the already intensely competitive TV hardware market, says a report from The Wall Street Journal. The claims made by The WSJ are in contrast to Carl Icahn’s belief that Apple will come up with a TV next year.
Apple focusing on set-top streamer
Previously, the company was reportedly planning to bring 4k resolution and advanced sensors and cameras that would allow “Face Time” for the television. Television leaders such as Samsung, LG and Sony have already experimented with similar features, but so far consumers have been reluctant to accept them.
However, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has not stalled its project altogether even when the plans were laid to rest and the employees were assigned to different product lines, according to the report. Also Apple experimented with other novice technologies to build a next-gen television, such as a transparent display powered by lasers. However, that project also could not take off due to doubts about power efficiency and poor image quality.
Therefore, Apple decided to focus on a next-gen Apple TV set-top streamer that is expected to be launched at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June, according to the report. The new device will have a speedier processor, revamped remote control with a touchpad, a dedicated app store and Siri. Further, the reports suggest that an over-the-top subscription service will also be featured to compete with traditional cable providers.
Icahn expects Apple TV
Separately, activist Investor Carl Icahn assigned a price target of $240 on Apple, believing in part that the company will launch a television set next year. Icahn is convinced that the company will launch a television set in 2016, and debut an electric car in 2020. In an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday, Icahn suggested that Apple shares are significantly undervalued. He suggested that Apple will launch 55-inch and 65-inch ultra-high definition sets and expect it to sell 10 million units, earning revenue of $15 billion in fiscal 2016.
Backed by massive resources, companies like Apple do not shy away from exploring a variety of fields, irrespective of how much innovation already has been done in the category. Such an approach has helped the iPhone maker come out with flying colors, driving growth on evolution and enhancing electronics beyond consumer expectations.
