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SAN FRANCISCO – Apple is considering a new reinvention Monday by deploying Hollywood stars for its new streaming TV service, which is part of a broad-based orientation shift from California's tech giant.
After witnessing a downturn in the once-hot smartphone market, Apple will seek to diversify by deepening its television business and with the likely launch of a subscription-based information service.
The iPhone maker, who is officially behind his plans, was to call on Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Star Wars director JJ Abrams at a launch event at its headquarters. Silicon Valley.
"It seems pretty obvious that they are launching a new video service," said Avi Greengart, technology market badyst at Techsponential.
The big questions that need to be answered include how convincing the content will be; What will be the cost of the service and what makes it unique in a market of continuous television more and more congested, according to the badyst.
"If the content is convincing enough, people will subscribe," Greengart said.
"It's not new, but it's hard to do well."
The event comes as Apple is under pressure to diversify its revenue in a context of weak smartphone growth, which has generated the bulk of Apple's profits over the past decade.
While iPhone sales remain enviable, growth is at a standstill. Meanwhile, the money that Apple earns by selling services or digital content has climbed.
The Cupertino-based company recently stopped disclosing sales figures for its iPhone with the release of its quarterly results and insisted on the potential to earn money from selling services, applications , music, movies and more to millions of people using his devices.
The new service will be "a crucial step for Cupertino, which will continue to drive its service wheel and enter the" continuous content arms race "which is clearly beginning to take shape," said Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities in a research note.
Mr Ives said that he thought that the service sector of Apple "would represent about 400 billion dollars autonomously".
FADE STAGE
In streaming, Apple is attacking not only Netflix and Amazon, but also some of the biggest names in the world of multimedia entertainment.
Walt Disney Co. has announced the launch of its new streaming service, Disney +, as well as that of WarnerMedia, AT & T's new multimedia entertainment division.
Newcomers, with more expectations, could launch a formidable challenge for Netflix, which has some 140 million paid subscribers in 190 markets, as well as other services such as Amazon and Hulu.
These competitors are entering the segment transformed by the spectacular growth of Netflix and the growing consumer movement towards on-demand television broadcast on Internet platforms.
According to the Motion Picture Association of America, subscriptions to online video services worldwide rose 27% last year to 613 million euros, surpbading subscriptions to cable television.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE NEWS?
It is also widely accepted that Apple is about to launch a subscription-based information service, described as a "Netflix for news", with partners from the media world.
According to a New York Times article, the Wall Street Journal would be part of the Apple service, which would probably cost $ 10 a month, but many other news agencies, including the prestigious New York daily and the Washington Post, are reluctant to respond to Apple's demand of 50%. income bracket.
According to Bloomberg News, the Vox website would also be part of the Apple News effort.
This decision comes as the information sector is increasingly struggling with a difficult transition to the digital world, where few people want to pay for information and advertising is a problem.
ADD TO MIX
In addition to investing a considerable portion of its wartime treasure in original broadcasts, Apple could try to improve its streaming service by adding benefits such as access to its music library or its ability online storage on iCloud.
Amazon uses this type of tactic, making its video service available as part of the premium subscriptions, which include free shipping on colossus e-commerce purchases and loyalty program discounts at Whole Foods grocery stores.
For its video service, Apple could invest up to $ 2 billion a year in original content, according to Richard Greenfield, an badyst at BTIG Research, but it will be less than Netflix and a few others.
One big question is whether Apple will offer its content for free to its device owners and how it will work with third-party TV services, according to Greenfield.
Laura Martin, an badyst at research firm Needham & Co., said Apple's prospects are promising as it shifts from a "product" company to an "ecosystem".
In a research note, Apple can count on 900 million people with at least one Apple device to feed this ecosystem of services, including Apple Pay, music and other digital content.
"Apple's business model is essentially a business model of subscription," said Martin.
"Apple's access to more than 900 million unique users worldwide, including most of the richest in the world, and its culture of creating hardware and services with commercial appeal tried to position it favorably. "
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