Is Apple About To Conquer The Living Room Once And For All?

There is a rumor from a Taiwan-based fund manager that Apple AAPL is going to launch a TV set in 2012. This is nothing new. We have heard this rumor for years. What is new is that the news came from a source who spoke with Bill Bishop, who founded MarketWatch, and is based out of Bejing. The Taiwan-based fund manager Bishop spoke with is 100% certain that Apple will launch the TV next year. Many analysts, including Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster have talked about this before, but it was speculation. Nothing was ever 100% certain. “What Apple does really well is put everything into one box,” Gene Munster, the famous Piper Jaffray analyst, said during a radio interview with Bloomberg Surveillance back in June. “People are much more willing to pay $1,200 for something Apple puts together that's all nice and neat than go try and tie it all together themselves.” Munster is probably wrong on the price, as the company already sells a 27-inch monitor for $1,000. It does not seem as if the company would sell a TV set, probably 40 inches or larger, for only a couple of hundred dollars more. Apple has started to enter the living room with its Apple TV unit, but according to former CEO Steve Jobs, that is just a "hobby." With an actual TV, Apple would be well on its way to living room domination, and perhaps world dominationSNE, Toshiba, Panasonic PC and others have not been able to figured it out, how could Apple? That is not for us to answer, that is Apple's job. Benzinga has speculated in the past about how Apple would go about this in the future. With Jobs no longer at the helm of the Cupertino-based company, it is up to Tim Cook, Jonny Ive, and the rest of Apple's executive team to think of a way to do this. My best guess how they do it? Probably the same way Apple has been able to keep its margins on products in the past. Use its massive cash hoard to purchase supplies in mass quantities to keep its margins high, and cut deals with suppliers. Apple has been able to dominate every market it has entered, or created. The iPod. The iPad. The iPhone. The next one looks to be the iTV, if Apple should choose to enter that market. After watching Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement speech last week, it makes you realize that under Jobs' direction, Apple is trying to change the world for the better, and it is succeeding like no other company before hand. Of course Jobs can never be replaced, but Cooks' ability to secure parts using Apple's cash hoard make him the best operations man on the planet. That is why Jobs firmly believes that Cook is the right man for the job, as evidenced by his resignation letter. "As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple. I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role." Coming soon to a store near you. The iTV. I can't wait. ACTION ITEMS:

Bullish:
Traders who believe that Apple will dominate the TV market like other markets might want to consider the following trades:

• Apple is still cheap at these levels, trading around 14 times 2012 earnings estimates. With a new iPhone, iPad and perhaps a TV, earnings estimates will have to be revised up.

Bearish:
Traders who believe that Apple will not be successful may consider alternate positions:

• Apple has made a few gaffes this in its history, but they all get pushed aside. If Apple fails at the TV set, this could be the end of the Apple dominance as we know it.
  
  

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