Reputed Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo took to Twitter on Friday to claim that Apple will launch a cheaper variant of the Apple TV in the second half of 2022.
Presently, Apple’s plug-and-play TV experience starts at $149 for the previous generation Apple TV HD with 32GB of storage. The newer Apple TV 4K models will set you back by $179 for the 32GB option and $199 for the 64GB storage model. According to Kuo, the iPhone maker will bring the price down a notch by offering a new variant later this year.
Apple will launch a new version of Apple TV that improves cost structure in 2H22. I think that Apple's aggressive strategy of integrating hardware, content, and service amid the recession will help close the gap with its competitors.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 13, 2022
That said, the analyst doesn’t share any other details. So, it remains unclear where Apple will cut corners on a barebones product to cut costs. Theoretically, the cheaper Apple TV variant should be priced to rival options from Amazon and Roku that sell for around $50 to $100.
This won’t be the first time Apple has launched a sub-$100 Apple TV model. The second-generation model launched in 2010 and its successor released in 2012 were priced at $99 at launch. Later, Apple dropped the price of the third-generation Apple TV down to $69.
Moreover, a new variant of the Apple TV is probably due for launch. The second-generation Apple TV 4K was released Last April after the company’s three-year hiatus from new Apple TV launches.
