Apple TV Sales Approach the One Million Mark

Steve Jobs famously referred to Apple’s set-top box as “just a hobby.” Then again, Apple seems to enjoy bragging about their sales numbers. Case-in-point: the Cupertino company issued a press release saying that it expects to sell 1 million new Apple TVs by the end of the week.

With three months of sales under its belt, the 2nd generation Apple TV is certainly selling well by all accounts, but not quite on par with some of the company’s top sellers like the iPad and iPhone. Don’t take it from me, here’s what the official Apple PR had to say:

“Apple® today announced that it expects sales of its new Apple TV® to top one million units later this week. The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows, stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe℠, all on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. iTunes® users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.”

As an Apple TV owner, I have to say the features that really sold me were the great sub-$100 price-point, the ability to stream Netflix Instant movies and shows, and while I didn’t know it at the time, the new AirPlay features available via iOS 4.2 devices, makes tossing streaming video from my iPad to the flat-panel TV so amazing and easy.

Now, when I stumble on todays’s viral video on YouTube, I don’t have to keep it to myself. My significant other has become quite used to me blurting out, “You have to watch this, NOW!” And AirPlay makes that happen smoothly with a couple of jabs of my finger.

Still, for such a humble price-point, I keep expecting more out of Apple TV. For instance, where’s the browser? Sometimes, it would be handy to pull up a website on the plasma. Or how about apps? Why can’t I run Angry Birds on my Apple TV? Perhaps Jobs is saving that for a future update. You know, when Apple TV finally graduates from tinkering in the garage and goes out and gets a real job?