Apple TV+ Can Coexist with Netflix, Cook Says
- Paul Thurrott
- May 01, 2019
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31
In a post-earnings conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his firm’s coming video service can coexist with Netflix and other competitors.
“There’s a huge move from the cable bundle to over-the-top,” Mr. Cook said during the call, referring to cord cutting streaming video services. “We think that most users are going to get multiple over-the-top products, and we’re going to do our best to convince them that the Apple TV+ product should be one of them.”
That’s a newly conciliatory stance towards existing services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, with which Apple now partners and relies on for current services revenues. And towards coming services, like Disney’s surprisingly affordable service that will launch later this year.
Apple’s aim, of course, is to replace as many of those services as possible, and to bring as many revenues as possible in-house. But it’s years late to the streaming video market and it is arriving with a decided lack of content, especially compared to certain services, like HBO and Netflix, which are known for award-winning, high-quality content.
To close the gap, Apple plans to spend about $2 billion on content this year. But that figure pales in comparison to its rivals. Netflix spent $13 billion on content in 2018 alone, for example, and it expects to spend $15 billion this year.
That differential may help explain Cook’s tone here: There is no way Apple can beat Netflix in the short run, if ever.
Conversation 31 comments
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provision l-3
<p>I don't think the question is "Can streaming services co-exisit?" it is more about "How many can the market reasonably support?" everybody and their dog seems to be jumping in on this action. </p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#424764">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>I suspect you are correct but only in so much as I honestly haven't put the thought into it to come up with a number. My comment was more about everybody diving in and no market being immune to eventual saturation. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#424756">In reply to glenn8878:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think that "whole family" "little house on the prairie" Apple approach will be way less popular than you think. I bet Apple will change its tune after some time.</p>
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shameermulji
<blockquote><em><a href="#424766">In reply to MutualCore:</a></em></blockquote><p>I agree. Apple is spending on Project Titan. They are serious about autonomous vehicles</p>
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Stooks
<p>The consumer has lost. Compare the video industry to the music industry. </p><p><br></p><p>You can get most music from multiple vendors for the same price. Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google etc. It then comes down to app quality or device support. The consumer wins.</p><p><br></p><p>For video was have a complete train wreck. No single vendor has everything. The pricing is all over the place. Some charge more for 4K some do not have 4K. It seems like every 3 months there is another service. Device support has been a huge issue and that changes all the time. (Amazon seems to work with everyone now). Cable was too expensive and people began to "cut the cord". Now with multiple streaming services, more bandwidth caps, Cable is looking not so bad. Of course you can't get everything from Cable so maybe not. </p><p><br></p><p>It is forcing people to over manage this whole mess. Example I have Cable and CBS but I can't watch the new Star Trek show. I can't rent the episodes on Amazon or Apple either….even after it has been out for a while. So I have to get CBS all access to watch it. So I I wait until the last few episodes of the season and pay for 1 month, no commercials and binge watch it, then dump the service. I do the same with Hulu and Starz. If CBS would let me buy a season on Amazon or Apple they would make more money off of me.</p><p><br></p><p>Another consequence, is that I truly believe piracy of shows is WAY up because of this mess. Lots of money lost there. </p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#424874">In reply to Stooks:</a></em></blockquote><p>"It is forcing people to over manage this whole mess."</p><p>This sums it up for me. I was never a huge TV watcher so I dropped cable in 2002 and would just use netflix for DVD rentals. Then came online media stores so I started buying/renting a little more. Then netflix streaming so a little more. Now all the content owners want to be the only source of their content and stream directly. I started down the road you are talking about, adding Hulu, dropping Hulu adding HBO, dropping HBO adding whatever and I hit "f-ck it" and decided I was going to fiddle with this crap any more. I have since gone back to playing guitar, reading and and drawing for fun. So this mess has actually been a net win for me, I'm doing stuff I enjoy but I'm guessing that was not the intent of Netflix, HBO, Hulu … I also guess I'm in the minority and enough people will settle for doing the streaming service shuffle. </p>