Apple is hiring former Amazon Fire TV chief Timothy Twerdahl, who also played a big role in Roku, as vice president of Apple TV product marketing.
With a keen eye and determination to figure out what the customer wants, the exec may just be the savior that the Cupertino brand's streaming business needs to rise from the ashes, so to speak.
How Twerdahl Can Save Apple TV
According to Twerdahl's LinkedIn profile, he has a lot of experience in the field: seven months at Netflix, one year and nine months at Roku, and nearly four years at Amazon. Interestingly enough, he was previously at Motorola for two years and Palm for three years.
That right there is already a good indication of what he can bring to the table for Apple.
As pointed out by Fortune, Twerdahl holds many industry-related patents to his name, further showcasing his expertise on the subject.
More than that, his drive to pinpoint what the consumers need and want makes him valuable to the Cupertino company, which could be explained by the time he spent at Roku.
Twerdahl, Roku, And The Successful Set-Top Box
Also reported by Fortune, Netflix tapped Twerdahl back in 2007 to produce a streaming device for its platform.
However, it didn't exactly pan out, as the company soon learned that a set-top box would be more appealing to consumers if it were capable of offering numerous services. After that, it found a lucrative future for its services in other brands' devices, and in the end, the group eventually came to Roku.
Twerdahl is said to have listened in on customer support calls an hour per week to ascertain what improvements the products needed and what the users were saying about them, which goes to show how much he values the input of consumers.
Aside from getting to the bottom of what the people want, he was also astute when it came to assessing the competition and the market.
When the contenders in the space were out to pack as much storage as they could into their devices, he already knew it wasn't the advantageous route to take.
"We don't believe in disk drives. They fail, they're noisy, and people don't want them in their living room," he said (PDF).
More Details Of Twerdahl's Hiring
According to Bloomberg, Twerdahl will be reporting to Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPhone product marketing.
He is also replacing Pete Distad, who will now focus on content deals with Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.
Recap
Long story short, Twerdahl's expertise, experience, and know-how can be the key to get Apple TV into more living rooms all across the map.
In other related news, the app size limit of Apple TV was increased by 20 times, going from 200 MB to 4 GB. Also, Apple is reportedly eyeing original TV shows and movies, and with such content, it could earn a more prominent spot in the business.
What do you think of Apple's move of hiring Twerdahl to reinforce its Apple TV business? Feel free to drop by our comments section below and let us know.
