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

For Apple TV, The Price Is The Problem

In late 2014, Amazon launched the Fire TV Stick for $40. Compared to the $100 Fire TV box that launched earlier that year, the Stick had significant performance hiccups, and the first version of its r...

91% of viewers like streaming aggregation, survey says

Not only are consumers saying video aggregators are simple to navigate across, but they also value having a single bill for all their apps. OTT bundling is a key source of revenue for pay TV and other...

What I’m thankful for in sports media

Media research firm Parks Associates said there are more than 300 direct-to-consumer streaming services in the United States. From the article "What I’m thankful for in sports media" by Jeff Agrest...

Deeper Dive—Who would buy DirecTV?

Although DirecTV is losing subscribers at a rapid pace, it’s not exactly a lost cause. Brett Sappington, senior research director and principal analyst at Parks Associates, said the satellite operator...