We’ve heard a lot of (fairly credible) speculation concerning Apple’s plans to launch an “iTV” television over the past few months, but a Cupertino executive has all but killed the rumour.
Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, told an analyst that the company’s policy is only to enter markets where it feels it can drastically improve the customer experience and solve problems. Now, while the TV hardware business is certainly far from perfect (HDTV user interfaces in particular could benefit from a major overhaul) it seems Apple wants to change the whole way in which pay TV content is delivered.
Unfortunately for Apple, this content is tied down to a small group of cable network providers in the US – and they’re unlikely to want to loosen their lucrative grip on it anytime soon. It's a market that even Apple doesn't have enough pull in.
Of course, this could all be a spot of subterfuge and Apple could have a killer television waiting in the wings for imminent launch – but we'd not recommend anyone hold their breath waiting for it.
This article originally appeared at Stuff.tv
