Google TV and Roku have been getting most of the press of late as far as their potential popularity with consumers and their impact on the pay-TV industry, but Apple, which launched its revamped--and simplified--Apple TV earlier this month appears to be a major league hit with consumers. Reviewers, by and large, panned the device as not sophisticated enough and lacking in features, but that hasn't slowed down consumers who are scooping up the mini-STB for $99 a pop.
JMP Research analyst Alex Gauna said that the device, like the iPad and iPhone before it, is selling out in some Apple stores, adding that the $99 price point has been a hit with consumers. He said he expects Apple TV to sell at a 1-million-per-quarter pace, about one-third that of the iPad.
"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 D.C.," he writes, "and online representatives corroborated this strength extends beyond our 20+ store checks."
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