Analyst claims Apple has television prototypes

FRUIT THEMED TOYMAKER Apple is already building prototype television sets according to analyst outfit Piper Jaffray.

Apple's rumoured TV set has been doing the rounds for years, yet an actual device has yet to materialise. But according to Piper Jaffray the company is already building prototypes, with the firm claiming that Apple is investing in manufacturing facilities to secure a supply of LCD displays.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster cited a couple of Apple patent applications and a meeting with a "contact close to an Asian manufacturer" that indicated prototypes were already in production. Ultimately Munster concluded, "We believe that of the estimated 220m flat panel TVs sold in 2012, 48 per cent or 106m units will be internet-connected, of which Apple could sell 1.4m units. We believe an Apple Television could add $2.5bn or 2 per cent to revenue in CY12 [2012], $4.0b or 3 per cent in CY13 [2013] and $6.0bn in CY14 [2014]."

According to Munster while internet connected televisions will experience significant growth, sales of standalone flat panel televisions will slow over the next three years to just four per cent growth per year by 2014. At that stage sales of connected televisions will account for 60 per cent of total television sales and will see 16 per cent year-on-year growth, according to Munster's crystal ball.

Apple's foray into the television market has been less than successful in the past. The firm's first generation Apple TV was a sales flop and its current box, while faring better, has yet to pick up anything like the number of customers the firm attacts with its other products. However a full Apple branded television is not too far fetched. After all, the firm realised with the Iphone that it needs to design the whole device in order to make it a success.

If Munster's sources and calculations are correct, then Apple will continue its push further away from computers and into consumer electronics. µ