Apple TV sales boom 170% as “the hobby” gets serious

As Apple‘s Q3 earnings unfold this week it’s become clear that the Apple TV is the unsung hero of the day with massive sales compared to this same quarter last year. Apple TV sales have risen 170% over last year at this time, with 1.3 million units being moved here in Apple’s fiscal Q3 2012. Apple on the other hand is still calling this product a “hobby” as sales are nowhere near what the iPhone and iPad have racked up for the quarterly report.

To further drive the point home, Apple didn’t release information on the Apple TV inside their normal sales report, relying instead on the question and answer section to allow the facts appear on their own. Asking what Apple was planning on doing with the Apple TV and what their “updated thoughts” on the system were, the response was simple.

“We sold 1.3 million last quarter, up more than 170% year over year. That brings our fiscal year to 4 million units. This is pretty incredible. It’s all still at a level that we would call a “hobby”, but we’ll continue to pull the string to see where it takes us. Apple is not one to keep around projects that we don’t believe in. There are a lot of people here that believe in Apple TV, and we’ll continue to invest.”

Past quarters yielded numbers such as 100,000 units sold in the first month of sales of the Apple TV back in 2007, with well over a million units sold by the holiday season of that year. The fourth quarter of 2008 had unit sales tripling the fourth quarter of 2007, and the first quarter of 2009 again tripled sales compared to the same quarter the year before as well.

Stick around as Apple’s investment in the Apple TV continues, and check the timeline below to keep up to date with the last few blips on the system as well.