Posted: 03/23/2014 08:41:54 PM PDT
Updated: 03/23/2014 08:46:22 PM PDT
SAN JOSE -- In another move that further suggests Apple may be working on a killer TV app, the Cupertino tech giant is apparently in talks with Comcast to provide high-quality, streaming television content through the Apple TV box.
Negotiations are in the early stages and many challenges remain to complete the deal, anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal.
Rumors have been flying for the past year that Apple's next big thing will be a new and improved television service that will change the way we watch TV, the same way Apple changed the way we use our telephones when it introduced the iPhone.
If Apple and Comcast -- the nation's largest cable company -- team up, analysts say, the deal could be huge for Apple and Comcast customers and should strike fear into the Netflixes and Hulus of the world.
'This is all about keeping Apple users inside the ecosystem and revenue that would normally go to a Netflix or Hulu into Apple pockets,' Laurence Balter, chief market strategist with Oracle Investment Research based in Hawaii, told this newspaper on Sunday. 'It's about the ability to sync between all your devices and watch Comcast, which drives a stake right in the heart of the Netflix subscriber and business model.'
The partnership would essentially take the place of the traditional cable set-top box and allow users to stream live and on-demand TV programs and digital-video recordings stored in the cloud to all their Apple devices. It would also provide a high-quality streaming service and not suffer the hiccups or buffering that can happen when streaming Web video, according to the Journal report.
Some companies have forged into the TV industry, including Microsoft Corp. with its Xbox gaming console and Roku Inc.'s set-top box. But neither provides the network quality that Apple is striving for in a fully formed TV service.
'This is going to be the next evolution as the Apple television at some point will be launched not just as a TV box, but a revolutionary way to home entertainment,' Balter said. 'Right now they need to corner the market on content. If they didn't do this and suppose they launch their TV set, everyone would watch Netflix and Apple wouldn't get a penny. This is about keeping the revenue stream flowing in their direction.'
Rumors of the Comcast deal over the past week have already hurt Netflix stock, Balter said.
'If I were Netflix, I'd be on Google's front doorstep tomorrow, asking for some sort of exclusivity, revenue sharing model,' said Balter, 'something to enhance the value to the Android user.'
Before talk of the Apple-Comcast deal surfaced, however, Apple had been rumored to be in talks with Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable provider, for a similar deal. But just last month, Comcast agreed to buy Time-Warner Cable for $45 billion, a deal that is being reviewed by federal regulators.
'It's not been consummated, but I do know there's a lot of discussion of whether it can even pass the scrutiny of regulators,' Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies based in San Jose, told the Mercury News on Sunday. 'If Apple was already down a path with Time-Warner, it is only logical that they in this case would go to Comcast to see if the same deal could be struck.'
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at 408-278-3409. Follow her at http://ift.tt/NACBmB
Posted by Unknown on Monday, March 24, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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