Many consumers are buying the $99 Apple TV, according to JMP Research analyst Alex Gauna. He said Apple TV, like the iPad and iPhone, is selling out in some Apple stores. The $99 price has helped, he said.
Gauna expects that about one million Apple TVs will be sold per quarter. The iPad, by comparison, is estimated to be selling about 4.5 million units per quarter.
Apple gets the added financial benefit of being able to rent TV shows and movies. Apple TV users can buy TV shows and movies for viewing on the Apple TV but must make the purchase on a PC, iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.
“We were not particularly surprised when we couldn’t get our hands on the Apple TV over this past introductory weekend in San Francisco, but when the scarcity persisted into this week it got us to checking and we subsequently learned that stores across the nation were selling out of their inventory on the same day as receipt in Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington DC,” Gauna said, “and online representatives corroborated this strength extends beyond our 20 plus store checks.”
At least some of the initial sales are no doubt to Apple lovers who’ll buy anything with the Apple logo. However, the Apple TV has moved beyond being a hobby and becoming a serious business. It sets up what will be an interesting battle against Google TV sets and especially the $299 Google TV adapters that Logitech is making.
And where, pray tell, is Microsoft in the battle for the living room? Remember when it used to talk about every TV set having Windows? Now it’s having a hard time selling Windows-based mobiles and developing Windows-based tablets.