Apple announced their quarterly financial results yesterday and revealed that they sold 1.4 million Apple TV boxes in the quarter. This means that Apple has sold a total of 4.2 million of the current Apple TV box, but Apple is still characterizing it as a “hobby”. Apple provided no hints to an Apple-branded HDTV.

4.2 million Apple TVs sold
The Apple TV box has become more popular throughout 2011 and sales are accelerating. In the Q1 2012 quarter, Apple sold 1.4 million. In fiscal 2011 Apple has sold 2.8 million, and 4.2 million has been moved since the introduction in September 2010.


Apple TV

In December 2011 it was reported that Apple holds 32 % of the Connected TV box market and Apple has recently opened their movie rental services in a range of new EU countries.  Apple also recently added AirPlay Mirroring to the box.


AirPlay on Apple TV supports multi-player games

The press searched for hints to the coming Apple HDTV during the investor conference but CEO Tim Cook did not provide any information. He says that the Apple TV box is doing “very well” and interjects “if you're using the latest one, I don't know about you, but I couldn't live without it”. However, Cook still characterizes the Apple TV as a “hobby” for Apple. 

The Apple TV box could indicate the route Apple is taking with a HDTV and Cook said that Apple will “continue to add things to it”, but even though rumors have been strong since Steve Jobs’ death, Apple has yet to provide official information.

The Apple TV box competes in the market for connected TV boxes with products such as the WD Live, Roku, and Boxee Box. Google TV entered the market in October 2010 but quickly turned out to be a fiasco. However, Google has just announced major improvements to the Google TV platform at CES 2012 with LG, Vizio and Sony as partners. Samsung will be supporting Google TV later in 2012 as well.

Apple also sold 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads in the quarter.