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Apple Doesn't Need To Do TV Because It's Killing TV

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Should Apple get into the TV business? Wait a sec... Image via CrunchBase

At last, an original angle on the Apple TV debate. Should Apple get into the television business? Will they? Pundits have been debating this for months.

Check out the local Best Buy, however, and the whole discussion looks a little silly. In a note to investors Wednesday, Daniel Ernst, Hudson Square Research points out what should have been obvious already: demand for tablet computers, such as Apple's iPad, isn't just strangling the PC business, it's hurting sales of high-definition television sets.

Prices for HDTVs have fallen 23.4% so far this year, compared to a decline of just 18% during the corresponding period last year, Ernst notes.  "While in part a seasonal effect, our store checks this year have shown thin activity in the TV aisles, while showing strong activity for tablets and smartphones," Ernst writes.

So should Apple get into the television business? Even if you forget, for a moment, that Apple already is in the television business - sort of - with the Apple TV set top box, isn't that a little bit like asking a python if it should get into the pig business?