So what's next for Apple?

[KingCrimson]

I can't identify any new market segment for them to crash, everything seems to be pretty much saturated at this point. I can see them in consolidation mode at this point. Who needs new profit engines when the iPhone is going to sell 100 million in 2011-2012 and iPad 60-70 million?

I guess they could try to make a motion capture controller to provide Mac OS/X users an option instead of buying X-Box/Kinect.

 

[talkingfuture]

The rumour that keeps cropping up is a TV with Apple TV built in. Not sure myself but a lot of analysts seem keen on the idea. A TV would have potential for a lot of revenues though.

 

[KingCrimson]

The rumour that keeps cropping up is a TV with Apple TV built in. Not sure myself but a lot of analysts seem keen on the idea. A TV would have potential for a lot of revenues though.

Basically an iCloud-enabled TV. I'm not sure how succesful that would be. Apple usually sells a lot of hardware in areas that are being poorly addressed. But there are already plenty of "smart TVs" from LG, Samsung as well as Roku player. This is not a market segment that is begging for Apple to save it.

 

[mrsir2009]

Gaming console or TV are the only areas left unfortunately. But they are already very saturated... I think Apple may hit it's peak soon. Unless some brain comes up with a new un-colonized corner of the market.

 

[Unpleasant]

apple has gone this far,

apple bought things to the table where no one has had, iPad. No one wanted one. Apple released one. Now everyone is playing catch up. Apple always have something coming that takes the world of technology to a new level.

 

[*LTD*]

TVs. Taking Apple TV to the next level.

The mobile phone segment was also "saturated" until Apple showed up. Everyone just laughed and laughed at the idea of an iPhone. Now look where we are.

 

[OllyW]

TVs. Taking Apple TV to the next level.

They'll have a bit of work to do first, especially outside the USA. It's an interesting little box but is lacking a lot of features which are already starting to be included as standard in new TV sets.

 

[maflynn]

I guess they could try to make a motion capture controller to provide Mac OS/X users an option instead of buying X-Box/Kinect.

The sad point is that them inventor of the kinect approached apple first but blew it.

Cult of Mac

Yet the initial meetings hadn’t gone so well. Obsessed with secrecy, Apple had already asked Beracha to sign a stack of crippling legal agreements and NDAs.

 

[Photics]

Gaming console or TV are the only areas left unfortunately. But they are already very saturated... I think Apple may hit it's peak soon. Unless some brain comes up with a new un-colonized corner of the market.

I don't know... TVs are complicated. Sure, if you want to watch broadcast TV or even Cable, it's fairly simple. Things start to get complicated if you want to watch YouTube videos or other online video on the TV. The Apple TV does help to simply things... but it could be better... and it could play Games / Apps.

I think Nintendo is screwing things up with their next console... and none of these next-generation gaming systems are $99. (The Wii is close, but that system seems to have hit its peak already.) I think Apple can change console gaming like they changed portable gaming. Sony's brand has been severely tarnished with the recent PlayStation Network troubles and The XBOX 360 was also plagued with the Red-Ring-of-Death issue for years.

Apple would likely have lots of developer support too, as Apple TV is basically an iOS device.

 

[RWinOR]

I can see them jumping into the gaming console business. It kind of follows the theme. Using airplay you could have one iPlay that can connect to any TV in your home. Start a game in the family room finish it in your bedroom. Especially if the new chips are 1080P Like we have heard.

From there I can see a actual TV with built in gaming and streaming no more boxes to attach. They are masters at development and integration.

They are also masters at evaluating what is available today, modifying it repackaging, improving and selling millions. Right now they seem to have their hand on the pulse of the population. I am sure the next product will be a dramatic improvement over what is available today, and many will copy again.

 

[maflynn]

I can see them jumping into the gaming console business.

I can't see that for apple. The market it mature, stable and quite stagnate at this time. All three makers sell the consoles for loses and try to make up the costs on value added services and games. It will be a hard sell for apple to produce a console that could exceed what's out there and make money.

 

[G4er?]

I can't identify any new market segment for them to crash,

XMac.

 

[0098386]

I could imagine some kind of casual-friendly entry into the games market, much like what iOS currently supports.

They did extremely well in the MP3 player market because, at the time of the iPods birth there was no truly great MP3 player.
Same with the iPhone and the smartphone market.
In the games console market there are 3 extremely good manufacturers already, each one sold at a lost, each one offering legacy support for their masses of great games and (most) possessing a big dose of processing power. Who have all been developing incredible games for decades.

Not saying it's impossible but Apple would have to pull something big out of the bag if they wanted to jump in on that action.

Also: does anyone actually believe Apple would release a TV? I can't see that, not when all they currently have to do is manufacture a little box to plug into any existing TV. Maybe if they started partnering up and integrating Apple TV into existing TVs then that could be superawesome.

 

[RWinOR]

I can't see that for apple. The market it mature, stable and quite stagnate at this time. All three makers sell the consoles for loses and try to make up the costs on value added services and games. It will be a hard sell for apple to produce a console that could exceed what's out there and make money.

This is true, but they did manage to pull a rabbit out with the iPhone, and the iPad. They created a need and a market where there was not one already, in an already seemingly saturated playing field.

Before the iPhone who would have predicted that Apple a computer and iPod manufacturer would be making one the worlds best smart phones. They completely reshaped the tablet market as well.

I am very curious to see what the next new gadget will be.

It is fun to speculate, but only Apple top brass truly know what the next market they will focus on is.

 

[KnightWRX]

I can't see that for apple. The market it mature, stable and quite stagnate at this time. All three makers sell the consoles for loses and try to make up the costs on value added services and games. It will be a hard sell for apple to produce a console that could exceed what's out there and make money.

You mean like the cellphone market was ?

 

[*LTD*]

I can't see that for apple. The market it mature, stable and quite stagnate at this time.

So in other words it's fertile ground for Apple.

 

[roadbloc]

I would wish Apple the best of luck if they were to enter the TV market. It isn't as if you could expand the TV market like Apple did with the Smartphone and Tablet market.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

So in other words it's fertile ground for Apple.

Not quite. Up until recently, Apple computers were having problems running games like World of Warcraft on max settings, which came out in 2004...

The next 360 is rumored to have the graphics capacity to output an Avatar like experience, for the price tag of 1/2 that of a mac mini.

EDIT: I don't see Apple entering the TV market either, as TV's aren't upgraded every few years, so there's less of a product turnover rate.

 

[kdarling]

Well, there's always the Dick Tracy wristwatch video phone market

--

Seriously though, I've been waiting for Apple to make a "kitchen computer", a la the HP Touchsmart and other large touchscreen desktops.

(I know some people use an iPad for that, but it's not the right size or body, and is missing tuner, DVD players, etc.)

We use our kitchen Touchsmart all the time for video Skyping as a group, keeping the family calendar that's sync'd to all phones, looking up phone numbers and addresses, as a large picture frame for showing visitors photos, watching DVDs or TV while cooking, playing Pandora background music, etc.

It's usually defaulted to a dashboard full of widgets such as weather, news, moon phase, TV guide, horoscope, events.

Very convenient to have a large touch screen, media connected, device always available, with at-a-glance info.

 

[Jessica Lares]

The problem with making the Apple TV into a console is the fact that the games themselves would have to compete with the likes of Wii and XBOX. And as much as we all love Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies, etc, those games do not translate very well to a TV set.

And even when Apple does have all these game developers, I bet you 90% of them couldn't make a groundbreaking game that would be worth the $20-40 price point that would become common. There are a LOT of smart developers out there, but a lot of the ideas that make up a majority of IOS games in a three month time frame vs a year's worth of work - "We've been accepted into the developer program, let's make the most of our year" basically.

It's a lot of money to gamble with, especially when there's more crappy developers who don't give a hoot about their customers and are only after the money, versus those who want to put the best product they can forward. Apple needs to clean the store up, look at who they're allowing to have these developer accounts, and review indie applications more carefully. When you have 99 cent applications crashing on opening, why would people want to waste more money on stuff that may or may not work?

We've had Retina for over a YEAR now... But how many games, that aren't racing/sports related, actually take advantage of it? Pretty much less than 10. There's still a 2D dominance on iOS.

 

[carlgo]

The biggest prize of all is still out there: becoming a carrier to put away ATT/VZ. They are the biggest obstacle to what Apple wants to do with clouds, etc.

There is no limit to the benefits of owning the airwaves.

Hopefully Apple would use better technology than silly cell towers, perhaps drones orbiting overhead.

 

[jackc]

The biggest prize of all is still out there: becoming a carrier to put away ATT/VZ. They are the biggest obstacle to what Apple wants to do with clouds, etc.

There is no limit to the benefits of owning the airwaves.

Hopefully Apple would use better technology than silly cell towers, perhaps drones orbiting overhead.

Intriguing, but I think it might be overstretching for Apple to get into that business.

 

[mrsir2009]

If they worked outside of the USA I'd buy an Apple TV (when meh trusty old philips box dies of course...)

 

[ForeverG5]

Not to jump on the bandwagon of everyone else's posts, but I truly do think that Apple will work on a television set next. They have Google TV to compete with and digital content is slowly blowing up to be based around video. Thus, Apple TV not only needs a boost with the ability to run apps, but to also have a built in HDTV