Apple Announces Subscription Service for News and Video Broadcast Service | 03/26/19

Apple wants to reduce its dependence on the iPhone market with its own streaming video service and other subscription offers.

Series and films shot on behalf of the group will be exclusively available in the "Apple TV Plus" offering starting in the fall. In the fall, Apple also wants to launch a subscription to a game, with more than 100 games available. First in the United States and Canada, Apple News Plus also gives access to 300 magazines and a few newspapers at $ 9.99 per month. In the domestic market, Apple will offer its customers a credit card in the future.

Apple has won individual filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and J. J. Abrams and Hollywood and television stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon for individual projects. Many of them came to Cupertino to briefly introduce their projects.

A price for "Apple TV Plus" was not initially mentioned. However, the application should be available from the beginning in more than 100 countries. Apple is competing with services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, although initially in a smaller format. Apple's shares slid 1.2% in the US after the event and Netflix's share gained 1.4%.

The existing TV application on Apple devices will be extended beyond the new service. This gives users the option of subscribing and using the individual payment sender directly to that location. For example, HBO, Showtime and Hulu are in the United States. International channels should be available in the respective countries, it was said without further details. The application should also make personalized suggestions based on the programs previously viewed. The app will be available for the first time not only on Apple devices, but also on Samsung, LG and Sony TVs, as well as on Amazon's Roku and Fire TV streaming boxes. In addition, the application, currently available in ten countries, will soon be usable worldwide.

The game subscription with the name "Apple Arcade" is also expected in the fall. There should be no advertising or additional fees. At first, there was no information about the price of the subscription or the titles of the games. According to media reports, games should be exclusively available via the "Arcade" subscription. At the same time, badyst Piers Harding-Rolls of market research firm IHS Markit pointed out that free games dominate in games for smartphones.

For Apple News Plus, all subscriptions would cost around $ 8,000 a year, Apple said. Family members can read for $ 9.99 a month. An important feature of the application could be personalized suggestions of new issues of magazines and individual articles. The layout of the articles is specially adapted to the size of the screen of the iPhone and the iPad. As has already been leaked by the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" not there – but the "Wall Street Journal" and the "Los Angeles Times".

This fall, the application will be launched in Australia and the United Kingdom. If and when the service will arrive in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, it has not been said. Apple had purchased as the basis of the application "Texture", which had made agreements with various magazine publishers in the United States.

With the announcements, Apple is stepping up its efforts to expand its business with services. Currently, the iPhone is the most important product of the group. During the last fiscal year, it generated more than 60% of revenues. But sales have recently fallen and, in any case, the rapid growth of the smartphone sector is over. That's why Apple wants to use as a base about 1.4 billion devices in the hands of its customers.

In the United States, there will also be an Apple credit card, which the group publishes with the bank Goldman Sachs. The company promises, among other things, strict confidentiality: "Apple does not know what and where they bought and what they paid." In addition to the virtual version of the card on Apple devices, there should also be a physical titanium card. On the side of the chip, only the name of the user is listed – no numbers or signature, so these data can not be stolen. This information is available via the application on the iPhone.

/ So / DP / STK

CUPERTINO (awp international)

The Apple stock lost 1.21% to $ 188.74 during Monday's trading session.

CUPERTINO (awp international)