All aboard the rumor mill: An Apple Brand TV in 2013?

All aboard the rumor mill: Will Apple release a TV in 2013?

By Adam Poltrack February 15, 2013

apple lcd led tv announcement icons — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Apple rumor mill is an unpredictable, high-stakes theme park ride. Think about it: How many other companies constantly generate question-mark-laden healines that contain speculative verbiage like “could” or “might?” With that said, the aforementioned attraction is never short on passengers.

Jefferies Analyst Peter Misek became the latest to take the ride for a spin when he recently suggested that Apple is planning an event for next month, at which it could intro an SDK (software developer kit) for a large screen (42-inch to 55-inch) Apple-branded TV set. The TV itself, says Misek, could launch in September or October at a price point starting around $1,500.

If you’ve been following the news on this front, you know that another Jeffries employee – Analyst James Kisner – suggested back in November that an Apple HDTV was “imminent.” Consequently, if said set doesn’t debut sometime this year, the analysts over at Jeffries are going to look more like “analysts.” If it does, however, they’ll look like the most prodigious prognosticators in the industry. Such is the nature of advanced forecasting.

The same analysis also expects Apple to lean largely on relationships with active pay-TV entities, a point which has been cited as on of the reasons we haven’t seen Apple’s elusive television already .

Here’s our take on all of this auguring: Throughout its life-cycle, Apple’s actions have been notoriously difficult to predict, a reality which is arguably part and parcel of its success. After all, if every Tom, Dick, and Harry had his finger on the company’s pulse, then others would have beat it to the punch on some of its more profitable innovations. Right now, we feel confident in the fact that Apple is looking into creating its own HDTV, but almost everything else is still speculative. One thing is certain: If and when Apple does cough up a TV, we can all be sure it will make plenty of headlines.

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