Tim Cook’s “busy Fall,” which one insider referred to as an “army of products,” officially kicks off at next week’s Apple Event. Whereas everyone expects the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C and iOS 7, a surprise(-ish) guest could be making an appearance — a “Set Top Box with Communication Function” (a.k.a. 2013 Apple TV).
Panjiva Shipment Search, which has a penchant for rooting around in Department of Homeland Security trade documents, discovered that Apple has been receiving shipments of set top boxes and that can mean only one thing to the rest of us, a new Apple TV is coming and soon.
• On August 25th, Apple received a shipment described as “Set Top Box with Communication Function” from BYD
• On August 18th, Apple received another shipment, again from BYD, described as “Set Top Boxes.”
• And on August 11th, Apple received its first shipment from BYD of “Set Top Box with Communication Function.”
And, why assume this is a “new” Apple TV? Cupertino’s currently available Apple TV, introduced in March 2012, is manufactured by Hon Hai and the the above shipments originated from BYD Precision Manufacture. That would seem to indicate it’s a new product.
Additionally, the mothership has added quite a few new channels to the Apple TV, including The CW, Vevo, HBO Go, ESPN, Disney and Disney XD. With more than 13 million sold resulting an over 50 percent share of the set top box market, the Apple TV is clearly more than just a “hobby.”
Will Apple finally deliver access to the App Store (and games)? After all, the Apple TV is iOS device and iOS 7, major rewrite of the mobile operating system is also due at the September 10 Apple Event.
Or, how about this possibility — the new Apple TV will actually be called the iWatch…
Hmm, what’s your take?
Via GigaOM