Apple TV offering compares favourably with Amazon, says Cook

Content available through the Apple TV box compares “extremely favourably” to the Amazon Fire TV platform, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Speaking on a conference call after Apple’s second quarter earnings announcement, Cook said that consumers purchased content worth over US$1 billion from Apple TV in 2013 and that Apple is focusing on investing in the product to make it better.

Cook said that Apple had sold about 20 million Apple TV devices to date, giving it a significant installed base.
Referring to Amazon’s deal with HBO, Cook said that HBO Go is already available on Apple TV for authenticated users.

“If I look broadly at the content on Apple TV, I think it compares extremely favorably to the content that is on the Amazon box,” he said.

Apple recorded a significant drop in iPad sales, 16.4% down in the second quarter compared with the 19.5 million devices sold in the same period last year.

Cook said that the drop was due to low inventory levels compared with the comparable period last year and a backlog of iPad Mini devices in the first quarter that were subsequently shipped in the second quarter.

Apple posted record revenues of US$45.65 billion (€33 billion) for the quarter.