Apple TV: What It's Worth to Apple
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Rumors about an Apple (AAPL) television are nothing new. With 2013 fully in gear, talk about the TV is heating up again, and it could be big business for Apple.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked about television being an "area of intense interest" for Apple on a number of occasions in the past, and has hinted that Apple will do more in this space. Apple may be looking to beef up its plans with a reported bid for German HDTV maker Lowe, something that's been rumored about in the past.
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference yesterday, Cook talked about Apple's acquisition strategy, noting that the company has averaged an acquisition every other month over the past three years. "And the kind of companies that we've purchased have been companies where they have really smart people and/or IP. And generally speaking we've in many cases taken something that they're working on and moved the scales to work on something else," Cook said, during the talk.
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An acquisition of Loewe would fit right in with Cook's description of Apple's recent acquisitions, and it could wind up being big business for Apple.
Apple could not be immediately reached for comment on the rumor.
Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty notes that an Apple television could be worth $17 billion in U.S.-based revenue to Apple, or $68 billion across the globe. "This assumes 10% penetration of active iTunes accounts and $1,300 ASP," Huberty wrote.
That would be a welcome sight to shareholders, who have pushed the company's share price down 25% over the past few months on worries about slowing revenue growth and a lack of innovation in Cupertino.
