While Wall Street studied earnings numbers, CEO Steve Jobs told financial analysts on the company’s conference call Tuesday that Apple TV is still just a hobby.
Mr. Jobs fielded the question: How are you thinking about Apple TV now and the digital living room strategy?
“Well, again, I think the whole category is still a hobby now—nobody has succeeded at it,” he said.
Don’t tell that to Benchmark Capital-backed set-top box maker Vudu of SantaClara, California, and other startups hoping to cash in on digital delivery of movies and other entertainment. The digital living room is a crowded category that counts Netflix’s Roku box, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Cisco-owned Scientific Atlanta, among others.
Still, the devastated U.S. economy may be the biggest factor in the set-top market, according to Mr. Jobs.
“Given the economic conditions, the venture capital outlook, I think it will continue to be a hobby in 2009,” he said.