A Timeline Of Gene Munster's Tragic Apple TV Love Story

A recent report by the Wall Street Journal that Apple Inc. AAPL has completely abandoned its television project has certainly left Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster broken-hearted. Munster released a note this week waving the white flag and admitting that his long-standing fairy tail love affair with the rumored device has run its course.

They say it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. While the love story between Munster and the fabled Apple Television has suffered a tragic end, at least investors will always have the memories:

“The bottom line, 10 million HDTV’s sold in the US a year is a real market, and if history repeats itself, Apple will find a way to compete in a commoditized market with a premium priced product.” - Gene Munster, August 2009

“We see [the Mac mini] as a small, intermediate step towards a larger move into the living room with an all-in-one, connected TV.” - Gene Munster, July 2010

“We believe that of the estimated 220m flat panel TVs sold in 2012, 48% or 106m units will be internet-connected, of which Apple could sell 1.4m units. We believe an Apple Television could add $2.5b or 2% to revenue in CY12.” –Gene Munster, October 2011

“If you’re in the market for a new TV, hold off. Apple has a new product coming and it’s going to be hot.” Gene Munster, May 2012

“We believe ‘if’ has been decided and now the question is ‘when.’” –Gene Munster, June 2012

“We expect the beauty of the design to be a feature, but the most important feature will be the ability to use the TV as the main interface for the living room across multiple devices… We believe the TV will include Siri and FaceTime. “ –Gene Munster, November 2012

“We are pretty confident [of the device arriving this year], and I would say if you were to put a percentage probability on it we would say there is an 85 percent chance it happens by the end of this year, and a 100 percent chance that it is going to be in the next two years.” –Gene Munster, January 2013

“The core of the debate is an improved set-top box… a hockey puck that attaches to your TV, or an actual television. Based on our work, in part, with talking to suppliers in Asia, to talking with people in the industry, we think it’s an actual television.” –Gene Munster, January 2013

“It’s an understatement that I’ve been wrong about the timing of the TV.” –Gene Munster, November 2013

“We view set-top boxes as an intermediary step between the ultimate vision of a television that is seamlessly integrated with online services and cable, but with an intuitive user experience.” –Gene Munster, April 2014

“Given how many times we have predicted a television and have yet to see one launch, it may be easy to dismiss our insistence of the television… We believe the evidence remains that something is there, the question remains when.” –Gene Munster, September 2014

“If we look back over the last decade, it's 3-6 years between major products. And so, ultimately the Watch is what hit this year, they're gonna refine that next year along with payments. And then that probably gets us into 2016 as more of a time frame for the actual television.”- Gene Munster, December 2014

“We believe the most likely path to a TV would be an update to the Apple TV hardware and software that potentially integrates content, gaming, and HomeKit in the fall of 2015 and a television at least a year later.”-Gene Munster, February 2015

“Our latest thinking prior to this story was that Apple would launch a television in 2016. Based on this report, we no longer expect a television to launch indefinitely.” –Gene Munster, May 2015