A survey by Morgan Stanley has found that nearly half of Americans are interested in buying an Apple branded TV, even though the product is not even close to being made.
According to the research, 11 per cent of respondents stated that they would be ‘extremely interested’ in buying such a device, which apparently translates to 13 million unit sales in the US along. A further 36 per cent said they were ‘somewhat interested’, which would boost that sales total up to 56 million units.
46 per cent of the respondents even said they’d be willing to pay over $1000 for an Apple branded TV, while ten per cent said they would pay over $2000.
All this is despite the fact that the proposed Apple television set is still in pre-design phase. Various design ideas are reportedly being tested by the US company in conjunction with its Asian manufacturing partners, Sharp and Foxconn.
However some commentators, most notably former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassee, are sceptical about the product ever making it to launch, noting that even if Apple TV sales were to grow ten-fold they would still only account for two per cent of Apple’s overall income.