Steve Jobs railed against the idea of Apple producing its own brand of TV and said the company shouldn't get into the business because of poor margins, it has been claimed.
Rumours have persisted for years that the Cupertino company would be selling an internet-connected smart TV, with analysts predicting the first model would be released by the end of 2012.
The revelations of Jobs' oposition to the technology come from a new book, Haunted Empire:Apple After Steve Jobs, by former Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane.
According to the book, Jobs said in a 2010 meeting that he didn't think the firm should release a TV set, citing poor margins and upgrade history.
In the book, set to be released tomorrow, Kane relates how the question of producing an Apple TV came up during Apple's annual "Top 100" meeting of executives, managers and employees. Jobs had asked those in the meeting to ask him questions regardless of "how dumb it is or how insulting it is".
One of those at the meeting asked Jobs if Apple would be releasing an Apple TV set. Apparently, without hesitation, Jobs said "no" and added "they don't turn and the margins suck".
However the account contradicts statements made in a book by Steve Jobs's official biographer, Walter Isaacson.
"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," Jobs told Isaacson in one of his final interviews.
In Kane's book, the author notes that it was possible Jobs was trying to instruct his staff to focus on the present. It is claimed by the book that veterans in the room weren't entirely convinced by the answer and weren't sure he was being entirely honest about plans.
