Rumor has it Apple is about to start making the the world's favorite gadget.

In a note sent to clients earlier this week, Piper Jaffray analyst (and longtime Apple TV enthusiast) Gene Munster said he’d spoken to a major television component maker that has been contacted by Apple about the capabilities of its display components.

Some people wonder whether Apple would really choose to enter a market that’s so crowded, and that offers such slim margins for manufacturers. But similar doubts were raised before Apple launched the iPhone, and, of course, it went on to take over that market, primarily by delivering a remarkably simple and intuitive user interface and experience.

With any luck, Apple will bring similar innovation to the living room. The television interface is a huge mess, and a huge opportunity. Instead of a multitude of remote controls for different devices and several poorly thought-out graphical interfaces, imagine a simple, intuitive way to navigate the lineup for an evening's entertainment. Even diehard Apple holdouts would surely welcome that.

If anyone can do it, Apple can. But their previous attempt, Apple TV, was a flop.  To read more, click here.