Analyst: Apple's Television is Coming, Just not Yet

Tim Cook dropped a pretty big hint that Apple has something in store for the television market, but he didn't say exactly what the company has in store. Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um thinks that product may be the long rumored Apple Television, and not a set top box like the Apple TV -- and we wont see it before the end of 2013.

Is an Apple-branded TV in your future? Maynard Um thinks so."We've noted in the past that we believe Apple is likely to enter the television set market at some point in 2013-14," Mr. Um said. "While some have speculated Apple will enter the market via set-top box, we think a television set may be more in tune with Apple's strategy as we think Apple is as much about branding as it is product and would relish a large Apple logo as the centerpiece of the living room."

Mr. Cook called the television market an area Apple is very interested in during an interview with Brian Williams for Rock Center. Mr. Cook said,

When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years. It's an area of intense interest. I can't say more than that.

Mr. Um called an Apple-branded television the missing screen in the company's ecosystem, and he sees Siri voice control as having an important role in the TV along with gesture-based controls. Apple won't launch its own television without special content deals in place, and he thinks that will push the launch out until some time in the second half of 2013, or into 2014.

Mr. Um has a "Market Weight" rating and target price range between US$710 and $730 for Apple's stock. Apple is currently trading at $530.80, down 16.44 (3.00%).