Oi, Apple, stick to phones, forget about TV - Time Warner CEO

Time Warner Cable CEO Jeff Bewkes has subtly mocked Apple's ambitions to conquer the TV biz by describing the iPhone maker as a "great device company".

At the Ignition conference organised by Business Insider, Bewkes was asked whether Apple should make a television set and replied: "I hope they do."

"They bring good interface and navigation skills," he said, suggesting Apple's gear will allow viewers to sort through hundreds of cable channels. Bewkes also pointed out that Apple would face plenty of competition in the TV set market.

Note the use of the term device company to describe Apple: it flies in the face of company co-founder Steve Jobs' ambition to march Apple into the world of television and set up shop as a content emporium, much like it crashed iTunes into the music business.

Instead, Apple wants to license the rights to tout programmes to fanbois through its TV hardware, doing more than just selling a media playback device in the same way iTunes is much more than an MP3 jukebox.

However, TV companies such as Time Warner are playing hard ball: they are not willing to flog their material through a store controlled by Apple. From the sound of Bewkes' comments, it doesn't sound as though his company is prepared to change its mind any time soon. ®