Apple TV Starts Shipping?

It seems the rumors of Apple TV’s shipments getting delayed till mid October were exaggerated. According to multiple sources, Apple has started preparing the first patch of Apple TVs for shipment (see below photo courtesy of AppleInsider). To be fair, Apple has been sending mixed signals with its TV product. Just a few days ago, it started refunding people who had paid for expedited shipping.  The exact delivery date for Apple TV shipments is not clear but it won’t take the company a month to send these out (some will be getting theirs as early as October 1st).

Apple still faces major challenges to make Apple TV gain acceptance among networks. The company has overcome resistance in the past in the music industry. It has pulled it off in the smart-phone market too. A few networks are not ready to offer their contest for as low as $0.99 though:

What we said to them—and the Apple guys are terrific and obviously the application is terrific—is let us see what happens… There are two networks in and two networks not in. Let’s see what happens and maybe we’ll talk again in January, maybe we’ll talk again next year,

explained CBS. Apple TV could be another lucrative device for the company to conquer a whole new market (Apple could even make its own TV in the future). There is no question that networks such as NBC and even CNN have been struggling in the past. With top executives being replaced at some of these networks, the new management teams may be more open to using Apple and its rivals to get their content to more people. Will content networks make the right decision? For their sake, let’s hope so.