Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Apple TV Upgrade: Upside Limited Without Content

Apple has been working for some time on a cable killer, and is looking to combine broadcast and select cable networks for a cheaper, better-looking bundle. But that isn’t the extent of the company’s content ambitions: As Variety reported exclusively, the company has even made overtures to execs in Hollywood about producing its own original programming, with the goal of building out a production unit that could one day churn out TV shows or even movies.

But no Apple originals are in the foreseeable future, and negotiations with networks to license channels have been slow-moving, forcing the company to postpone the launch of the service until some time in 2016.

Without that content infusion, Apple TV is just another box — and an expensive one: Numerous leaks point to a base model launch price of $149.

That’s significantly more than the competition, which already has been eating Apple’s lunch with cheap boxes and streaming sticks. Roku, whose entry-level devices retail for just $50, sold 34% of all streaming devices in the U.S. in 2014. Apple TV’s market share was just 13%, according to data from Parks Associates, which also has sales of Google’s Chromecast streaming stick and Amazon’s Fire TV devices surpassing those of Apple’s hockey puck.

Consumers are voting with their wallets, argued Parks Associates research director Barbara Kraus: “If I just want to stream, I can do that with a $35 stick.”

From the article "Apple TV Upgrade: Upside Limited Without Content" by Janko Roettgers.

Previously In The News

Big cable companies lose subscribers in Q1 2026 but outpace Q1 2025: Report

Though they still are struggling, strategies big cable companies are using to stanch subscriber losses seem to be working, according to a new report from Parks Associates. Parks Associates report a...

Soaring Memory Prices Dampen Demand for Budget Smartphone

Rising DRAM costs are one of several factors increasing the cost of developing next-generation connected devices, observed Elizabeth Parks, president and CMO of Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market...

Data: US cable providers lost 280,000 broadband subs in Q1

Research from Parks Associates’ Broadband Market Tracker shows broadband subscriber losses among the largest cable providers in the US continue to lessen as operators strengthen customer retention eff...

The Annoyance Problem: How Vivint’s Smart Deter™ Keeps Security Features Switched On

Parks Associates research sharpens the picture at the homeowner level. The firm reports that 62% of security system owners experienced at least one false alarm in the past 12 months, and that 53% of t...