JPMorgan: Apple Will Launch New AppleTV Hardware At WWDC

In a report published Monday, JPMorgan analysts maintained an Overweight rating on

, ahead of the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) scheduled for June. According to Re/code, Apple aims to expand its TV service to include access to live programming from local TV stations for customers across the US. "Apple's ambitions have complicated its negotiations with the broadcast TV networks, because most broadcasters don't own all their local stations, and have an affiliate, or franchise system," the analysts mentioned. Getting the rights for achieving this and the broadcasters building new streaming infrastructure could take time and Apple is unlikely to announce these plans at its WWDC in June. "We believe Apple will launch new AppleTV hardware at WWDC. We also expect this to accompany the launch of an app store for the AppleTV which will become available by fall," the analysts wrote. In the report JPMorgan noted, "As the number of people on Apple's platform increases, the company's negotiating power for additional content should also improve. We also note that we do not expect Apple to make much on whatever TV subscription service they might roll out at first." According to AppleInsider, the company has entered into partnerships with new business listings providers like E-WEGO, NavAds, Yellow Pages Group Corp. and Yellow Pages Turkey. "Until the most basic Maps feature, driving directions, can be made dependable, we are skeptical that other additional features are going to pull users back into the Apple navigation fold and away from Google Maps," the analysts added.