Suppliers Confirm Testing Apple Television Set, Launch Unlikely for 2012
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that some of Apple’s supply partners were claiming that testing designs for an Apple-built television set had already begun in some manufacturing plants. Today, Focus Taiwan is supporting that claim with more information from an unnamed inside source at one of the suppliers.
According to Focus Taiwan, even though an official spokesperson for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (also known as Foxconn) wouldn’t comment on the issue, an insider who agreed to an interview on condition of anonymity said the initial phase of testing had begun for the rumored Apple television set.
While this is a step in the right direction, the final product is still a long way off. The source told Focus Taiwan that, “it is unlikely that shipments of the appliances will begin as soon as the end of next year.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sharp Electronics was involved in the early design stages. However, the source claimed that, not only is Sharp not currently involved, there isn’t much likelihood that Hon Hai will even use Sharp to make the 46-55-inch flat screen panels that are needed for the television set.
“We have not yet confirmed the LCD panel supply source with our client,” the source told Focus Taiwan.
Although there is nothing official, it is predicted that Apple will make an appearance at the Computer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January with “New Apple-TV related products” on display.
Maybe this is a sign of things to come. Maybe Apple will have a television set ready for our living rooms by spring of 2014.
[Via: Focus Taiwan]