We're besieged by Apple iTV rumours on an almost daily basis. Will it have Siri? A brand new interface? Never-before-seen screen quality? Content deals to finally free the world from expensive TV packages? Well we're unlikely to find out this year, according to a research group in the far east.
Apple will wait until 2013 to launch the flatscreen TV it hopes will revolutionise the industry, according to the CLSA group, that also notes that the LCD tech is being produced by Sharp electronics, backing up recent speculation.
In a note to investors the group says: "We continue to view Apple TV hardware as a 2013 event.
"The timing of Hon Hai/Foxconn's equity stake and partnership with Sharp along with Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou's separate 46.5% investment in Sharp's Sakai City plant lends further credibility that Apple TV is in the works.
"This also follows reports that Apple is investing ~$1.3bn in equipment destined for Sharp facilities."
While a lot of that is of little concern to those who simply want to deck out their home entertainment system with a fully-fledged Apple TV, the assertion that a pre-Christmas iTV launch is unlikely to happen will still be a disappointment.
It's still far from confirmed that Apple will indeed enter the competitive flatscreen TV market, the speculation has an air of the iPads about it. By the time the tablet rolled around in 2010 we all knew it was coming, it was just a case of when.


Source: T3