Speculation about Apple’s fabled television set has been rampant ever since Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography revealed that Jobs claimed he’d “cracked the idea,” but up until now, the Apple television set has been nothing more than a myth.
During a press conference in Shanghai this week, however, the Apple HDTV rumors just moved one step closer to reality. China Daily (via BGR) reports that in the press conference, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou revealed that Foxconn is already “making preparations” for Apple’s television, which he refers to as the “iTV”.
Gou said Foxconn is making preparations for iTV, Apple Inc’s rumored HDTV, although development or manufacturing has yet to begin. iTV reportedly features an aluminum construction, Siri, and FaceTime video calling. Foxconn’s recent 50-50 joint venture with Sharp in Japan is one of the preparations made for the new device, Gou added.
While manufacturing for the television has not begun yet, Gou has provided some insights into what may go into the device, claiming that their recent partnership with Sharp will product the LCD technology use in the HDTV’s display – something which had been rumored in the past as well.
Of course, Gou’s comments may simply mean that Foxconn is preparing just in case Apple wants to manufacture a television, rather than stating that it is a sure thing. Even so, a mention from Foxconn’s CEO is interesting, to say the least.
Previous reports have claimed that the Apple TV may look similar to Apple’s Cinema Displays, and include features such as Siri integration and facial recognition.
Update 5/14/2012: In a statement to TheNextWeb, Foxconn denies that Gou confirmed Apple’s upcoming TV in any way:
In a written statement to The Next Web, Foxconn said that Gou had “neither [confirmed] nor [speculated] about Foxconn’s involvement in the production of any product,” adding that it is company policy “not to comment on any customers or their products.”
As suggested in the original report, Gou was likely indicating that Foxconn would be ready to produce such a device if Apple asked them to do so.