Gabe Newell: Apple is the biggest threat to the Steam Box and consoles

[ríomhaire]

Apple is the biggest threat to home consoles and living room PCs according to Gabe Newell in a lecture given to University of Texas students, Polygon reports.

Gabe thinks a lot of companies are going to be investing in controlling the living room space, from the current console manufacturers, to nVidia with their Shield device, to Apple and of course Valve themselves and he sees Apple as the biggest competitor.

"The threat right now is that Apple has gained a huge amount of market share, and has a relatively obvious pathway towards entering the living room with their platform. I think that there's a scenario where we see sort of a dumbed down living room platform emerging — I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily. The question is can we make enough progress in the PC space to establish ourselves there, and also figure out better ways of addressing mobile before Apple takes over the living room?"

He thinks that it is very important that the PC industry can make it into the living room before Apple gets a strong foothold and that Valve is happy to take the reigns if no one else is.

"The biggest challenge, I don't think is from the consoles. I think the biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together."

You can read the rest of what Gabe had to say over at Polygon.

 

[jsparakov]

I don't like how polygon is breaking up this relatively short talk into a week-long event. I hope there's some kind of video.

 

[ríomhaire]

I don't like how polygon is breaking up this relatively short talk into a week-long event. I hope there's some kind of video.

Agreed though I understand why they'd do it. Makes for more stories, more buzz and more views for them.

 

[William]

Does anyone really think that Valve is ready to move head on into the hardware space with living room solutions? Seems like a David and Goliath story... Valve isn't particularly used to entering a competitive space, they are usually for-runners for new technologies. Most console/set-tops that have been successful have taken over a market share that is faltering (e.g., Sega, Nokia). As much as I love Valve, why do consumers want another competitor in the space, specially considered Valve isn't as of a "house hold name" as the giants like Apple & Microsoft. Valve has a very long road ahead of them and I fear it's a little too much for them to handle, then again they have surprised me in the past.

 

[giant384]

Why does valve think apple is a threat to consoles and living room entertainment? Does apple not have their priorities in the Mobile device market anymore? Even for a living room entertainment system, Im pretty sure other devices beat out any of apples offerings in the HTPC market.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

Does anyone really think that Valve is ready to move head on into the hardware space with living room solutions? Seems like a David and Goliath story... Valve isn't particularly used to entering a competitive space, they are usually for-runners for new technologies. Most console/set-tops that have been successful have taken over a market share that is faltering (e.g., Sega, Nokia). As much as I love Valve, why do consumers want another competitor in the space, specially considered Valve isn't as of a "house hold name" as the giants like Apple & Microsoft. Valve has a very long road ahead of them and I fear it's a little too much for them to handle, then again they have surprised me in the past.

this is what i have been ranting about for a while.

i dont know what valve is thinking anymore. they are creating an ever widening gap in the steam community, those that welcome all the new change and bio-metric R & D they are doing, and those (like me) that wishes they would go back to their roots, and just develop video games again; not develop new industry wide platforms in the living room which all their assets are being poured into that could or could not be worth it.

 

[MFL]

all their assets are being poured into

Source, plox? That's a pretty dubious claim

 

[Krynn72]

Source, plox? That's a pretty dubious claim

Time has proven over and over that a company can only do one thing at a time. Just look at Microsoft.