Apple TV sees slim, if any, profits

Peter G. 6 Jun, 2007 at 12:13pm ET Article published in Tech

Business Week, along with research company iSuppli, opened up the Apple TV and were surprised by what they found. In this article, they discovered the Apple TV probably costs $237 to make. Without taking into account the costs of marketing it, Apple probably sees $67 for each device sold since they retail for $299.

Selling a product at a loss isn’t always a bad thing when you’re trying to penetrate a market. Console game companies do it all the time. Profits just have to come from other places, and Apple has that covered, according to the article, by making in excess of 50 percent profit on their non-computer lines (read iPods).

So, iPod owners, to quote Johnny Rotten- “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

Comments

1. 
   6 Jun 2007 ~ 3:38pm Sledgehammer70 If MAC's were sold at the PC price level I have a feeling they would take atleast another 15-20% market share from MS... with the Ipod's selling so well they could pull it off and take much smaller gains on the desktop and laptop lines.
2. 
   6 Jun 2007 ~ 5:36pm BuddyJ That's an interesting proposition, and I think you're correct in it. I wonder if Apple has the manufacturing capability to move that many units though?
3. 
   6 Jun 2007 ~ 5:49pm Sledgehammer70 I would think they could if they wanted to... It seems to be Apple like's being overpriced for okay hardware as the small % of buyers they have keep them in business...
   
   Apple made the Ipod to help expand their business because well the PC side sucked... I am not a huge Apple fan but that is mainly because the systems are way overpriced... the mark up is unreal. Now if they were level with PC's I would reconsider, as there is nothing a MAC can do that a PC can't do.
   
   But there are tons of things a Mac can't do a PC can do like Gaming!!!!!
4. 
   6 Jun 2007 ~ 6:53pm RADA I completely don't get Apple Fanboys (& girls).
   
   I have an uncle that constantly and consistantly touted his Mac this or PowerBook that as faster than my machines. I usually take the high road and brush it off his apple-ego-trip, but somtimes it became too much. Everytime this happend I consistantly proved him wrong with both my laptop and my last PC build.
   
   Does Apple make a DECENT laptop or PC? Yes. Is OS X a quality product? Of course.. But between their commercials and some (not all) of their fans, I want nothing to do Apple, other than my iPod....
5. 
   7 Jun 2007 ~ 12:17am Sledgehammer70

   RADA wrote:

   I completely don't get Apple Fanboys (& girls).
   
   I have an uncle that constantly and consistantly touted his Mac this or PowerBook that as faster than my machines. I usually take the high road and brush it off his apple-ego-trip, but somtimes it became too much. Everytime this happend I consistantly proved him wrong with both my laptop and my last PC build.
   
   Does Apple make a DECENT laptop or PC? Yes. Is OS X a quality product? Of course.. But between their commercials and some (not all) of their fans, I want nothing to do Apple, other than my iPod....

   
   100% agreed!
6. 
   7 Jun 2007 ~ 11:35am BuddyJ

   Sledgehammer70 wrote:

   Now if they were level with PC's I would reconsider, as there is nothing a MAC can do that a PC can't do.
   
   But there are tons of things a Mac can't do a PC can do like Gaming!!!!!

   
   Come on now, lets be honest... the correct statement is: OS X has a piss poor selection of games and lacks many applications for professional environments. It's not a Mac vs PC argument anymore since they're both x86 systems; it's OS X vs. Windows. :bigggrin:
   
   Because Apples can run Windows now, gaming isn't a problem unless you lack the hardware to support it (like my MacBook w/ it's lame integrated graphics).
   
   Wonder if you could hax the Apple TV to run Windows or a Linux server?