Apple is one of the strongest competitors entering the streaming war space. On November 1st, the company’s launching Apple TV+, its most extravagant attempt at developing original TV series and movies. With nine original titles at launch, a content budget north of $5 billion, and multiple season orders from Hollywood A-listers, Apple finally means business. Apple is trying to get away from its past image. Think more Reese Witherspoon acting as an idealistic journalist, and less Gwyneth Paltrow overviewing potential App Store apps.
Apple doesn’t have Disney’s catalog of movies and TV series or Netflix demonstrated a string of successful shows. But Apple isn’t playing the same game as Netflix or Disney.Apple is taking its queues from Amazon. It’s best that they give TV+ as trying to replicate what Amazon did.- For free! Apple is gonna give one free year of TV+to anyone who purchases a new or refurbished product. Those people can then give five free subscriptions to family members and friends via Apple’s family sharing plan.
Think of it as Apple Prime Video. But let’s get the but out of the way first.TV+ technically isn’t free. It comes with a $ 5-million price tag. That’s only $2 cheaper than Disney+, but unlike Disney, Apples hoping to leverage its hardware to give people TV+ for free. Apple has 1.4 billion active devices around the world. If that trend continues, that means hundreds of millions of people are gonna get TV+ for free. There’s probably a lot of people watching this who are gonna buy an Apple product in the next few months. Even if it’s just to check out the shows and movies that Apple is hyping up, they’re probably gonna subscribe to TV+.
It’s free so why not? Throughout the year, Apple is gonna continue to add to its catalog with movies and TV shows that keep people hooked. But TV+ is just one ingredient. Apple already announced its first bundle. Those on Apple Music student plan will be able to get Apple TV+ for free. Apple is also reportedly working on a bundle that could include its other services, that its regular Music plan, News, its new gaming platform, Apple Arcadeas well as additional iCloud storage. Like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ isn’t designed to be a major revenue driver for the company. It’s not an iPhone, but selling services is a key part of Apple’s feature. If you forget that you’re actually paying for TV+, then the bundle works. Amazon Prime is the ideal situation. It’s only after you’re did buying toilet paper that an ad for a Fleabag or Marvelous Mrs. Maisel pops up, reminding you that through Amazon Prime, you have access to these award-winning shows.
Apple might do the same. They’re already kind of doing it. If I open up iTunes, maybe I wanna check out the new Selena Gomez track. I get served an ad that says, Free on Apple TV. If I click on it, I also get served with this big reminder that Apple TV+ is coming on November 1st. You have to imagine that its only gonna be more prominent once the service actually launches. I could be reading an article on Apple News or playing a game on Apple Arcade, and I’ll probably be served an ad for The Morning Show, one of Apple’s most anticipated shows. Figuring out what a streaming service looks like is key to a player in the streaming wars.
There are content-driven strategies and there are service-based strategies. Think Disney+, the first week is free, but for 6.99 a month after that, you’re basically just signing up to stream a big portion of Disney’s library. There are some new shows and movies but there’s also a good chance people just wanna be able to stream all eight Star Wars movies before The Rise of Skywalker comes out. Apple is eventually trying to sell people on efficiency. Unlike Disney+ or streaming services like HBO Max, they don’t come with gaming, news or music subscriptions. Apple, like Amazon, wants to put everything into one place. They wanna sell you on easiness. The more tighten people are to Apple’s ecosystem, the better it is for Apple. The company just needs to give in to people, it’s also better for them. Steven Shure, the former vice president of Amazon Prime told Recode earlier this year that when Prime first launched, it struggled. It wasn’t until Video and Music that Amazon Prime really took off. Video, in particular, was a big, big transformer. Jeff Bezos,
the CEO of Amazon has long credited Amazon Prime Video as a key player in helping to bring in Amazon Prime subscribers. Shows like Transparent are winning Emmys. And people wanted to see what all the hype was about. Bezos claims that the more time people spend on a video, the more likely they are to buy things from the Amazon store. Amazon developed a strategy that Apple eventually gonna wanna copy. Create a digital shop for everything and people are eventually gonna wanna stay. But even though TV+ is free right now, we are eventually gonna pay. Whether it’s through being hooked on TV+s offerings or subscribing to Apple’s inevitable bundle, there will be a monthly fee we pay, but its an easier sell for Apple to get people hooked on a bundle they can’t live without. If I’m paying every month for music and news and gaming and TV, its less likely I’m gonna leave. Even though Apple streaming service isn’t gonna replace Netflix, there’s a good chance that one year from now were still gonna be watching TV+and willing to pay for more. Once you’re in, its hard to get out.