Apple 'might find something larger' than set-top

Apple CEO Tim Cook may have hinted at the prospect of an Apple TV set during today's now-concluded talk in front of the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. The executive was asked about the current Apple TV set-top and possibilities such as a full-sized TV. "We don't want to send a message to you or shareholders that the market for it [the Apple TV set-top] is the size of our other businesses...we don't want to send a message that the length of that leg on the stool is the same as the others," he commented.

"Apple doesn't do hobbies as a general rule; we believe in focus, and working on only a few things," Cook continued. "Despite the barriers in that market, for those of us who use it, we always thought there was something there. If we kept following our intuition and pulling the string, we might find something larger. We need something that could go more main-market."

Apple sold about 2.8 million Apple TV set-tops in 2011, and roughly a million units in the last quarter. The company is strongly believed to be working on a full-scale TV, partly because of recent reports, but also because Steve Jobs famously declared that he had "cracked" a better interface for a TV. Some accounts have suggested than a TV set could ship as soon as this year.

by MacNN Staff