The results are in. By overwhelming majority those in the know in the tech world are expecting Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to release new hardware this year, but they’re not expecting the company to take over the living room. Instead the Cupertino company is expected to attempt an overhaul of the way people manage health and fitness. That’s going to center around two projects: the Healthbook app, and the iWatch.

Reports that a full television set is on the way from Cupertino have all but dried up. Apple is not causing a stir because of its ambitions in the living room any longer. Even ideas that the company is set to dramatically overhaul the current Apple TV service are becoming less and less common. Assuming the rumors are true, Tim Cook reckons there’s more money in fitness than there is in entertainment.

Apple Looks To Your Heartrate

Apart from the iWatch, rumors about which have become deafening, Apple will be concentrating much of its efforts this year on the release of Healthbook, an application that will allow collection and collation of health information. That information is to be collected by various devices including, but not limited to , the iPhone, the iWatch, and possibly a pair of sensor filled earphones.

The creation of a fitness focused ecosystem is an interesting one. Apple is betting on the emergence, or possibly the instigation, of a fitness craze in order to sell its next generation of hardware. The current market for fitness equipment simply is not big enough to justify the company’s apparent commitment to developing fitness hardware.

Whatever the future success of the iWatch, and the company’s other offerings, it seems that Apple has given up, at least for the time being, on television. Rumors that the company was planning on releasing a system to take control of people’s entertainment needs, and possibly their homes, was exciting some investors last year,

Apple Gives Up On The Living Room

Apple is probably working on television and living room solutions, but it seems that the work of its engineers is going to remain secret for some time. The quietening of the buzz around a possible television probably means there is little chance of one arriving in the months ahead.

If Apple has chosen to avoid the living room fr the time being, there are probably some interesting dynamics at play. The company either reckons there is a bigger overall opportunity in fitness, or it reckons it’s not time to get involved in the living room. The company’s decision making is opaque, but there are good reasons why the living room might not be the place for Apple.

Apple prefers to enter markets when they’re quiet. The company doesn’t jump into markets that are already full of offerings, it like to open up something new. The market is currently full of companies with different kinds of living room solutions.

Cupertino is looking for a way to grow its business. Right now the company needs to do that in order to calm its shareholders. Technical moves to support the stock just aren’t enough. Apple needs to show new hardware, and, right now, fitness is a market nobody is exploiting, and one that the company appears ready to pursue.

Disclosure: Author represents that he has no position in any stocks mentioned in this article at the time this article was submitted.