Advanced Television

Icahn: Apple UHD TV will be back

May 19, 2015

Veteran investor Carl Icahn says he expects Apple to bring a UHD TV to market in 2016, this despite the firm apparently shelving plans to make a set more than a year ago.

Apple executives didn’t consider proposed features compelling enough to enter the highly competitive television market, dominated by  Samsung and LG.

But in an open letter to Apple Chief Executive  Tim Cook, shareholder Icahn said he believes Apple will enter two new markets—an electric car in 2020 and a television next year.

Citing the “many years of rumours,” Icahn said he expects Apple to start selling 55-inch and 65-inch UHD sets next year, generating revenue of $15 billion in fiscal year 2016 on sales of 10 million units.

“We view television’s role in the living room as a strategically compelling bolt-on to the Apple ecosystem,” Icahn wrote.

Apple began considering making TVs in the middle of the last decade, as iTunes branched into video. In 2007, it introduced Apple TV, a set-top-box to stream video to TVs.

Apple is also expected to unveil a slimmer version of its Apple TV box with a redesigned remote control and revamped software, according to the WSJ. Apple hasn’t updated Apple TV since 2012.

Categories: Articles, UHD