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October was not a kind month to Apple. There has been a big management shakeup, the Street does not like the price of the iPad mini, iPhone 5 is experiencing supply issues, and earnings--as well as projections--were below expectations.
As if Apple needed it, the Israeli-U.S. start-up, Boxee, is now bringing more trouble to Apple. Apple bulls are hoping that Apple will announce more progress on Apple TV and the stock will take the next leg up. It was not long ago that there was intense speculation about Apple introducing a full-fledged TV dubbed by many as iTV, even though this name is not available to Apple. ITV was launched in 1955 to compete with BBC and has become a major commercial TV network in the United Kingdom.
Now the speculation has died down and it is widely believed that current Apple TV, which is a set top box, will be the cornerstone of any Apple TV initiative in the future. Here comes a big competitive threat. Boxee has entered into an exclusive arrangement with Wal-Mart to sell Boxee TV. Boxee TV is a set top box with a built in antennae to capture over-the-air TV signals as well as the ability to stream video from the internet such as from Netflix and YouTube, which is owned by Google.
The nice thing about Boxee TV is that it pulls together in one system both local stations and internet video. Boxee also includes a DVR service that allows users to record unlimited TV shows to the cloud.
Boxee TV uses a Broadcom chip (BRCM) which is cheaper than the Intel (INTC) chip used in many set top boxes.Starting today, Wal-Mart will sell Boxee TV for $98. Wal-Mart plans to heavily promote Boxee in its 3000 retail stores. Wal-Mart will continue to carry Apple TV but Boxee TV will be more prominently displayed.
Even though Wal-Mart has become a major retailer of Apple products, it has chosen not to go with Apple TV as its primary set top box offering.
Risks to Apple stock continue to increase.
About Me: I am an engineer and nuclear physicist by background. I founded two Inc. 500 companies, and have been involved in over 50 entrepreneurial ventures. I am the chief investment officer at The Arora Report, which publishes four newsletters to help investors profit from change. Write me: Nigam@TheAroraReport.com. Follow me here and get email notification when I publish a new article.
Full disclosure: Subscribers to The Arora Report are long Apple from $131 and have taken partial profits at $360, $525, $629, $568 and $610.
