Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Apple TV could be star of company's Wednesday show

Apple's effort to upend the television market isn't a sure thing, analysts said. Many of the features that it is expected to include on Apple TV -- an app store, voice search, a more powerful processor and a motion-sensing remote -- are already available on other devices, they noted. Meanwhile, Roku, which has some 2,000 channels available for its boxes, is likely to maintain its lead on Apple for the time being, Erickson said.

The bigger problem facing the new Apple TV could be its price, analysts said. Reports suggest that Apple will price the device at $150. That's not only $50 more than what the company charged for its previous Apple TV, until it discounted it earlier this year, but it's $100 more than what the streaming sticks are selling for.

At that price, Apple could have a hard time finding buyers other than its most loyal fans, said Barbara Kraus, an analyst who covers the connected device market for Parks Associates.

"I guess I don't see anything here that makes me think that this is a game changer," Kraus said.

From the article "Apple TV could be star of company's Wednesday show" by Troy Wolverton.

Previously In The News

HDTV Antenna Review: Top Picks From CR's Latest Tests

Market research firm Parks Associates says that one-fifth of U.S. homes with broadband access now use an antenna to get live TV. “Digital antennas are experiencing a resurgence as consumers consider o...

Comcast Rolls Out Its Own Connected-Home Products

Even among U.S. households with broadband service, newly released market research from Parks Associates found that less than 30 percent of respondents were familiar with where to buy smart-home produc...

OTT Annual Churn Rate Dips Slightly

This suggests that the all-important churn rate for services such as Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu isn’t fluctuating — with 8 out of every 10 U.S. broadband household that has such a service sticking...

Feds break up alleged streaming password theft scheme

Netflix and other streaming services have dealt with a variety of password-stealing schemes and other scams for years. Netflix announced earlier this year it was trying to crack down on password-shari...