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By Ivan Mehta, The Next Web
For years, Amazon, Google, and Roku have been battling it out in for
the top spot in the video streaming market with their affordable
dongles. But it seems that a new competitor might join the fight: Apple.
According to a report from The Information,
the company considered building a low-priced streaming dongle to get an
edge over the competition in the streaming space. However, it’s unclear
if Apple’s plans ever got past this stage and on to the drawing board.
The
Apple TV, which was first introduced in 2007, has always been a premium
option among streaming accessories, with a price tag of over $149. The
current version costs $149 for the non-4K model and $179 for the 4K
model. Meanwhile, Google’s Chromecast costs $35 for a 1080p-capable version, while the Ultra, with 4K output, costs $69.
And it looks like consumers might be interested too: a report by data analytics firm Thinknum suggests that Apple TV’s sales in the US for the holidays are better than that of Google Chromecast.
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The company is also considering launching its own streaming service
with shows produced in-house. It plans to offer this service to Apple device owners for free, and is expected to launch in 100 countries in March next year. If those plans really are on the cards, a cheap streaming dongle could help it reach more viewers.
It’s
too early to tell if Apple will ever end up making a TV dongle, and
it’s hard to tell whether the company will be able to make an
inexpensive one. Considering the company’s ‘affordable’ iPhone XR costs
$749 – far more than some top-end Android phones – the dongle likely
won’t come as cheap as a Chromecast or a Fire Stick.
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