Last month, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has long been a proponent of an Apple television set, reported that Apple was investigating components for just such a product, contacting suppliers to learn about the capabilities of their various offerings.
As shared by Business Insider, a new report from Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek claims that things have now moved a step further, with his recent visit to Asia yielding reports of "small quantities" of various components being shipped to Apple's television display panel partners. Misek expects that commercial production of an Apple television set will begin in May or June, with a launch coming sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.
Evidence of commercial iTV production is starting: we believe specialty components have begun to ship to Apple's Asia panel suppliers with polarized films, filters, and IGZO components starting to move in small quantities. We expect commercial production in May/ June with 2M to 5M builds likely. We still expect a CQ4 launch.
Despite resistance from content providers, Apple has also been rumored to be pressing ahead to develop a subscription TV service for launch by the end of the year, in line with predictions for the launch of the television set itself.
In his report today, Misek has also raised his price target for Apple's stock from $599 to $699, boosting his iPhone sales prediction for the current quarter by over 5 million to 33.2 million units.
