More evidence emerged yesterday that Apple is secretly preparing to get into the TV-set business.
“You’ll go into an Apple retail store and be able to walk out with a TV. It’s perfect,” a former Apple executive told the Web site Daily Tech yesterday.
Reports have been around since early this year that Apple was preparing to get into the TV-set business the same way it rocked the cellphone market two years ago with the iPhone.
The sets would package Apple’s iTunes service with their own brand of TV to create what could be the first successful marriage of TV and the Internet.
Last February, The Post reported that Apple had invested nearly $4 billion in long-term contracts and LCD-manufacturing facilities overseas in preparation for the launch, according to the Wall Street firm Piper Jaffray.
Apple has steadfastly refused to comment on the reports.
Because Apple has sold computer displays for so long, the move to selling TV screens is not a big technical leap.
The revolutionary aspect of an Apple TV would be that it could work independently of cable or over-the-air stations and offer viewers TV shows — for a fee — from the iTunes library or from apps created by outside suppliers.
The sets could be ready to hit the market as soon as Christmas, the former exec told Daily Tech.