After six years on the market, Apple 's (AAPL) set-top box, Apple TV, isn't exactly turning the television industry on its ear. But the device has found a place with loyal Apple customers who want to buy and view TV episodes and movies from Apple's own iTunes Store on their living room television.
In announcing new content deals for the Apple TV on Wednesday, the consumer electronics company gave some color on video downloads from its iTunes Store. Apple said customers have downloaded more than 1 billion TV episodes and 380 million movies from iTunes to date, and they are purchasing more than 800,000 TV episodes and 350,000 movies per day.
When it comes to other content on the Apple TV, Apple is simply playing catch-up with rivals, however.
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Apple announced Wednesday that it is offering Time Warner 's (TWX) HBO Go and Walt Disney's (DIS) WatchESPN services on the Apple TV. The services are available only to existing subscribers of HBO and ESPN. HBO Go already is available on competing devices, such as the Roku box and Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360. WatchESPN is on Xbox 360 as well.
Plus, both HBO Go and WatchESPN are available on a host of mobile devices, including Apple's iPad and iPhone, Amazon (AMZN) Kindle Fire tablets, and Google (GOOG) Android-based tablets and smartphones.
"HBO Go and WatchESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in a statement.
In addition to HBO Go and WatchESPN, Apple added three other content providers: Sky News, Japanese anime and Asian media channel Crunchyroll, and concert and music documentary channel Qello.
"These are incremental plays to keep the Apple TV box competitive," Colin Dixon, an analyst with nScreenMedia, told IBD. "If they don't do it, then the Apple TV brethren will be forced to buy a Roku or something else to get that additional content that they're looking for. HBO Go was absolutely critical" for Apple TV to get. Apple TV also has Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu Plus.
"The value proposition for the Apple TV box is still strongest in the Apple community — those people who have bought into the ecosystem and have their iPhones, iPads and iTunes accounts and are buying lots of content. It's a good adjunct sale to those folks," Dixon said. "It's a much weaker sales proposition outside of that group."
People not tied to the Apple ecosystem are more likely to get a Roku box, which is cheaper and has more channels of content available, including Amazon Instant Video, an iTunes rival.
If Apple wanted to innovate with the Apple TV, it would open up the platform to third-party apps, including games, and integrate Siri for voice search of movies and TV shows, Dixon says. Both of those suggestions have been rumored for Apple TV for some time.
Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company had sold more than 13 million Apple TV boxes. Half of those sales were in the last year, Cook said at the AllThingsD conference on May 28.
RELATED: Apple iOS7 Getting Plenty Of Negative Reviews.
In announcing new content deals for the Apple TV on Wednesday, the consumer electronics company gave some color on video downloads from its iTunes Store. Apple said customers have downloaded more than 1 billion TV episodes and 380 million movies from iTunes to date, and they are purchasing more than 800,000 TV episodes and 350,000 movies per day.
When it comes to other content on the Apple TV, Apple is simply playing catch-up with rivals, however.
View Enlarged ImageApple announced Wednesday that it is offering Time Warner 's (TWX) HBO Go and Walt Disney's (DIS) WatchESPN services on the Apple TV. The services are available only to existing subscribers of HBO and ESPN. HBO Go already is available on competing devices, such as the Roku box and Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360. WatchESPN is on Xbox 360 as well.
Plus, both HBO Go and WatchESPN are available on a host of mobile devices, including Apple's iPad and iPhone, Amazon (AMZN) Kindle Fire tablets, and Google (GOOG) Android-based tablets and smartphones.
"HBO Go and WatchESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in a statement.
In addition to HBO Go and WatchESPN, Apple added three other content providers: Sky News, Japanese anime and Asian media channel Crunchyroll, and concert and music documentary channel Qello.
"These are incremental plays to keep the Apple TV box competitive," Colin Dixon, an analyst with nScreenMedia, told IBD. "If they don't do it, then the Apple TV brethren will be forced to buy a Roku or something else to get that additional content that they're looking for. HBO Go was absolutely critical" for Apple TV to get. Apple TV also has Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu Plus.
"The value proposition for the Apple TV box is still strongest in the Apple community — those people who have bought into the ecosystem and have their iPhones, iPads and iTunes accounts and are buying lots of content. It's a good adjunct sale to those folks," Dixon said. "It's a much weaker sales proposition outside of that group."
People not tied to the Apple ecosystem are more likely to get a Roku box, which is cheaper and has more channels of content available, including Amazon Instant Video, an iTunes rival.
If Apple wanted to innovate with the Apple TV, it would open up the platform to third-party apps, including games, and integrate Siri for voice search of movies and TV shows, Dixon says. Both of those suggestions have been rumored for Apple TV for some time.
Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company had sold more than 13 million Apple TV boxes. Half of those sales were in the last year, Cook said at the AllThingsD conference on May 28.
RELATED: Apple iOS7 Getting Plenty Of Negative Reviews.