Apple sells a bunch of Apple TV devices, still calls it a 'hobby'

During the company's after-earnings conference call, CEO Tim Cook spoke about the success of the Apple TV set-top box.

The company sold 1.3 million of the device during the quarter, bringing the fiscal yearly total to 4 million.

Despite the strong sales, the exec still called the set-top a "hobby" for the company. Added Cook: "We think it will lead us somewhere., we'll keep pulling the string."

Year-over-year, the growth is strong, as well, 170 percent as of now.

Earlier this year, Cook was quoted as saying: "We're not a hobby kind of company as you know. Our tendency is to do very few things. And, if something creeps in and isn't a big success, we get it out of the way and put our energies on something else. With Apple TV though, you see what we've done. We've stuck in this, it's not the fifth leg of the stool. It's not the same size as the iPhone or Mac or tablet business. But last year we sold a little less than three million Apple TVs."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Jul 2012 23:34

LordRuss

A hobby... A rose by any other name...

Yeah, because try as you might - a shitty idea remains just that. So if you can't sell these things in any format, big or small, despite the number of years you've tried, & the number of software SNAFUs you thrown into it to force it to work autonomously with iTunes (and keep it from being hacked) it's still a turd wrapped in plastic.

So what do you do? You wrap it in a $300 HD TV, slap a $1300 price tag on it, do a little splash with some flashy advertising & hope that the fanboyism sales haven't dropped enough to recoup the losses from over the years before everyone catches on to what a farce that device will be too.

Call it Capitalism (instead of whatever this bastardized mutation it has become) & rejoice in its gluttony, then finally go public with that cult you've been hiding in the wings all these years.

http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

26.7.2012 13:35 #1

dparri526

Originally posted by LordRuss: A hobby... A rose by any other name...

Yeah, because try as you might - a shitty idea remains just that. So if you can't sell these things in any format, big or small, despite the number of years you've tried, & the number of software SNAFUs you thrown into it to force it to work autonomously with iTunes (and keep it from being hacked) it's still a turd wrapped in plastic.

So what do you do? You wrap it in a $300 HD TV, slap a $1300 price tag on it, do a little splash with some flashy advertising & hope that the fanboyism sales haven't dropped enough to recoup the losses from over the years before everyone catches on to what a farce that device will be too.

Call it Capitalism (instead of whatever this bastardized mutation it has become) & rejoice in its gluttony, then finally go public with that cult you've been hiding in the wings all these years. I am on my 3rd Apple TV. I have loved every single one and wouldn't give it up for anything.

I sold the older ones to help pay for the newer ones. I do wish Apple would open it up a bit more, but still its one of my favorite devices.

One of the better features include being able to download purchased movies and not having to store them. Gotta love the cloud.

27.7.2012 19:53 #2

LordRuss

Originally posted by dparri526: I am on my 3rd Apple TV. I have loved every single one and wouldn't give it up for anything.

I sold the older ones to help pay for the newer ones. I do wish Apple would open it up a bit more, but still its one of my favorite devices.

One of the better features include being able to download purchased movies and not having to store them. Gotta love the cloud. And while the device works great 'for you' - I'm not, nor ever will be a fan of the cloud. Tangible hard copies for those times "when the lights go out" is always a possibility. And while you may say the power may go out here in my humble commode, between solar & gas generators, most co-ops can kiss my ass when Ma Nature decides she's had enough of humanity here in tornado alley. Not to mention the fact, I actually like lending a movie out to a friend & he likes to loan me one as well.

As the case may be, I've never seen a used Apple TV re-sale itself to another happy home. If indeed they're that good, certainly there would be a decent resale market. Not here. Given that insignificant fact, it kinda bursts yet another one of my little bubbles to the A-TV takeover.

Maybe it's different in more metropolitan area, but home theater PCs & the ability to playback ACTUAL Full HD content still seem to be prime on consumers lists of needs. At least the ones I come in contact with.

http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

28.7.2012 17:07 #3

LordRuss

Originally posted by Appledystopia: The lack of built-in content is frustrating. Netflix is great. The absence of Hulu is unforgivable. Of course, Hulu competes with iTunes -- they both offer recently-released TV shows. The workaround is to use the Hulu app for iOS, and AirPlay mirroring. Hulu just updated their app and it works really well now. The show is beamed onto Apple TV and the iPad becomes a UI for controlling the show and selecting other shows. The stability and buffering has also improved. This has now effectively replaced me using my Mac and AirParrot to watch Hulu on my TV. I'm a firm believer in the whole "if it works for you, great"... certainly NetNuts & ScrewLu aren't the end of the world, but I find it a shame that iTunes basically screws its consumers so harshly to its formats that there isn't even an easy way of backing up your media. (Be honest, not a 1-2 method, I've tried)

But there again lies another reason for my dislike of those things under the header of Apple... they gag & choke out viable, legit competition that would (deity of choice) make their fan base happy.

That would be like buying a car & being told to purchase gas from only one vendor & one vendor only. despite what the hardship entailed. I simply won't have it, no matter how enticing the product.

http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

31.7.2012 14:52 #4

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