Apple iTV expected to be launched by end of 2013

Over the past few days, the Internet is abuzz with rumours that Apple is set to launch a television, dubbed the iTV, in the near future. However, as per a recent report by Cnet, this rumour has been swiftly shot down, and it now appears that Apple will launch it by the end of next year.

According to a report by Cnet, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, in an investors note, stated that Apple will introduce the television in November 2013. This new estimate is a drastic change from Munster’s previous report that claimed that Apple will announce the television by December and launch it in 2013.

The launch is not happening soon

Munster states that the TV will most likely retail for $1,500 to $2,000 and would be available in screen sizes measuring 42 inches and 55 inches.

Munster went on to add, “We expect the beauty of the design to be a feature, but the most important feature will be the ability to use the TV as the main interface for the living room across multiple devices. We believe the TV will include Siri and FaceTime. The biggest item unlikely to come with the TV will be unbundled channels.”

Analyst James Kisner of Jeffries & Co recently stated that his firm has heard rumblings from their industry contacts about at least one major cable operator doing tests to see if it can handle the extra bandwidth required for a product like an Apple television. This statement was made in an investors note about cable technology company Arris Group.

Commenting on a report on data growth released by the firm, Kisner said, “...Our discussions with industry contacts suggest that at least one major North American multiple system operator is working to estimate how much additional capacity may be needed for a new Apple device on their broadband data network.”

He went on to state, “We believe this potentially suggests an imminent launch of the Apple TV.”  He added that the iTV would be a boon to the Arris Group as it sells capacity to providers such as Comcast.

Cent reports that the impact the device would have was forecast by assuming that 50 percent of the iTV owners would watch HD programs during peak hours at a streaming speed of 5Mbps. The analyst group states that this impact would be felt by Arris if Apple sold between five million and 30 million units of this television set.

Over the past couple of years, it has been rumoured that Apple is preparing an HDTV deeply integrated with Apple’s voice recognition assistant, Siri, and that it would be launched by late this year or early next year. However, the possibility of it being launched this year appears to be slim, and now, in all likelihood, this full-fledged television set may make its debut next year.

The rumours went as far as stating that the Apple branded HDTV was in production, and an analyst Peter Misek, in a research note, stated that the television would show up in stores by the end of this year.

However, based on this latest information, we can expect the television to go on sale before the end of next year.