With a flurry of Apple iTV rumours continuing to circulate, industry experts have suggested to TrustedReviews that now ‘is not the right time’ for Apple to launch its first own-branded television set.
Speaking at the company’s HQ in Seoul, South Korea, LG executives have suggested it would not make sense for Apple to enter the television market now, with the iPad and iPhone manufacturer unable to hit the same levels of image quality as established television manufacturers.
“Apple has already introduced its own set top box type TV system. If they decided to tap into the TV set market, it is not the right time to introduce their own TV because, in my opinion, it would not be easy to differentiate themselves from the competition,” Thomas Lee, the Vice President of LG Home Entertainment said.
Claiming that there are multiple factors standing in Apple’s way of launching a much rumoured Apple iTV unit in the near future, Lee pointed towards changing panel types, component shortages and a rise in Smart TV competition as reasons to why the Cupertino based company should bide its time on the TV front.
“The panel type right now is changing from LED to Ultra HD and OLED. I’m not sure where they can source this product ahead of others,” the LG head said. “It is not easy to source the cutting edge panels.”
He added: “In terms of the Smart TV area, it would not be easy to differentiate themselves, you have got to be different from the mobile platform.”
With recent Apple iTV release date rumours pointing towards a potential pre-Christmas 2013 arrival, latest reports have suggested the much mooted device with play host to an iOS style user interface, as well as integrated gesture control capabilities.
Long considered the hobby project of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, comments by the talismanic leader, unveiled in his posthumously released biography in which he stated he had ‘finally cracked’ the TV market, helped ignite the now long-standing Apple iTV rumours.
Compounding Lee’s comments, fellow LG executives suggested Apple will struggle to match the quality offered by current TV leaders such as Sony, Samsung and LG themselves, with a lack of experience in the market proving detrimental to Apple’s hopes.
“They may get the device, but we believe it takes a long time to have the optimised picture quality that is needed to meet what consumers expect,” an LG TV specialist stated.
He added: “In this regard, this fundamental feature could be missing from iTV. Apple would need different screen sizes, hardware functionality and localised functions. Maybe they can focus on one or two markets but it would be hard to expand.
