There’s been no shortage of rumors surrounding Apple’s fabled television set. The latest of these comes from Jefferies and Co. analyst Peter Misek, who increased his Apple price target to $800 on “new information” about the product.
According to Misek, Apple’s HDTV will in fact be called the iPanel, and Apple will be building 5 million units in May. He also says it’s more than just a television. Barron’s reports:
We now believe the iTV could be called “iPanel” as it is far more than a TV […] It is a display, gaming center, media hub, computer, home automator, etc. Also, Apple would likely have difficulty getting naming rights from the UK TV network ITV.
The issue of the previously rumored “iTV” name has been raised several times before, so changing the name to something else could be a good move. In my opinion, the “iPanel” name just doesn’t sound very appealing, however. Barrons’ report continues, stating that Misek also claims that the device will sell for $1250 and include Sharp’s IGZO panels:
Misek’s other predictions are a little weird. He says that the Apple television will retail for $1,250 and bring in 30 percent gross margins. He also says that Sharp is shipping its IGZO panels to Apple for use in the iPanel, but that’s pretty unlikely: IGZO is effectively a power efficiency technology that allows displays to be brighter and have richer colors while using less power. That’s great, but it’s not ready for prime time yet, and Sharp’s yet to be able to maintain yields on panels produced using the tech. Plus, a TV is plugged in all the time, minimizing the returns on IGZO panels.
In the end, nothing is really known about Apple’s television project (or if it even exists as anything other than an idea), so it’s worth keeping all of these rumors at arm’s length until more is known.
