Apple Eyes Lease at The Culver Studios, Bidding on Drama Starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon

[bommai]

only 16% of US households have a 4K TV set. (Last year it was 7%). So, it's still too new to have a huge impact on sales. I'm not planning to get a 4K set until there is actually a lot of content. There's relatively nothing now.

http://advanced-television.com/2017/05/26/16-us-households-own-a-4k-uhd-tv/

I agree it is not just 4K but they are charging a 4K price. While my FireTV Stick is not as fast as the Apple TV 4, it only cost me $29 on sale. Apple has to come out with an AppleTV Stick for $30 to compete with the roku stick, fire tv stick and chromecast. Completely remove restrictions on what app developers can require and not require (such as requiring a gaming controller), Apple should make all XBox, PS4, PC gaming controllers compatible with the AppleTV and get rid of the stupid MFi program. The full AppleTV box with 4K compatibility should cost no more than $100.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

If apple is fighting for a piece of the content pie. Why start with a bunch of crappy reality channel stuff?

To paraphrase a very common bit of rationale around here: "...but which type of programming is the most profitable programming?"

Analogy purchase: of all the quality speaker companies Apple could have purchased, why did they buy Beats?

 

[Frankfurt]

Too little, too late. $1b buys nothing.
If they are really serious about this, then flat out buy Netflix valued at $75b and LEAD!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Apple studios ... will be a new method of selling the Apple Kool-Aid.

And just think: all other movies & tv shows ever made and still being made by others will become "crap" overnight and only these specific productions would be worthy of watching.

 

[Rob_2811]

Why does Apple need to compete? I feel like this is a question that nobody has answered. They make far more money elsewhere. I'm worried that doing this will put them in a weaker position when it comes to negotiating with rival studios. I want all content on a well designed, beautiful device.

They don't. They really do come across as a company spread too thinly, a company who wants to compete with everybody in tech from Tesla to Netflix.

We are already seeing established product categories that are ignored until the core user base becomes so vocally critical that they have to address it and some very confused product marketing. That will only get worse if they carry on in the same vein.

Its very odd. Someone has already said it in this thread but the term "jack of all trades master of none" springs to mind. Much better to do a small number of products and services really well than do a lot in a very mediocre or poor manner.

 

[Appleaker]

If apple is fighting for a piece of the content pie. Why start with a bunch of crappy reality channel stuff?

What’s wrong with doing it? Just because it’s not to your taste, it doesn’t mean that everyone else agrees. It is very ignorant of the tech community to say the shows were bad, they certainly weren’t designed for the tech community, there is a very small overlap by the looks of things. It’s not all about the ‘content pie’, what they are doing with Apple Music is separate in every way and was the right decision.

 

[Jsameds]

Too little, too late. $1b buys nothing.
If they are really serious about this, then flat out buy Netflix valued at $75b and LEAD!

iPhone, Apple Music, iPad, and Apple Watch were all "too little too late" ventures.

It's a shame that all of them failed miserably...

 

[alfonsog]

Next up Appleland Theme Park...
They really should just buy Disney...

 

[Rob_2811]

To paraphrase a very common bit of rationale around here: "...but which type of programming is the most profitable programming?"

Analogy purchase: of all the quality speaker companies Apple could have purchased, why did they buy Beats?

Because they wanted to bake their streaming service into Apple Music and wanted to recruit Dre and Iovine ?

 

[Appleaker]

Eventually something will replace smartphones and all that iPhone money will dry up.

Shouldn't they be focusing on the future of tech? I understand they have enormous wealth and revenue but still, nothing lasts forever.

Right, and what will that be? It’s happened in the past but where it’s made sense and on a smaller scale, it’d be stupid to say it’ll definitely happen again. The truth is the that thing replacing smartphones will be another smartphone, it’s hard to see any other form factor succeeding in such a way and being easy to use as a touch based system (to the point where it’s not just a smartphone).
But you’re right in saying the iPhone money will dry up, that’d theoretically happen sooner, but the growth in services has shown there is a lot of money there. Sitting down in a corporate environment to ask ‘what’s the next big thing’ doesn’t do much a lot of the time. But they are seeing AR as the future, like others, and they have done the best job of it compared to competitors.

 

[Abazigal]

Movies and TV shows, television sets, cars...Apple, how about fixing your software issues first before doing everything but be a computer company.

Apple isn’t a computer company.

Eventually something will replace smartphones and all that iPhone money will dry up.

Shouldn't they be focusing on the future of tech? I understand they have enormous wealth and revenue but still, nothing lasts forever.

That new market is wearables.

Which Apple turns out to be the major player (or rather, the only player, incidentally).

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I'm definitely a believer in FOCUS... and the feeling that Apple is increasingly distracted. However, I feel the problem is not too many pursuits but (my own guess here) a lack of delegation (too few at the very top still demanding to be in on too many decisions that good people below them could make). I don't know that THAT is Apple's problem- just speculating that it is.

From their perspective, whatever is going on in there is working REALLY WELL (see stock price at all-time highs). So whatever they are doing appears to be something to keep doing, so sayeth the stock & option bonuses... and tons of fans working for free arguing that everything and anything that Apple is selling is the one & only right thing to buy for all consumers everywhere. How dare I even imply that Apple has a problem!!!

BUT, beyond my speculation, iPhone is MOST of Apple's success. And it's hard to argue that iPhone 9 & 10+ can be an even greater seller than the long-hyped "10th anniversary (super-special) edition" next iPhone about to be released. At some point- presumably soon- iPhone rolls over and can't keep dominating the contributions to "best quarter(s) ever" records. When that happens, Apple must have SOMETHING else to pick up the slack. That's not Macs and probably not iPads. It's almost certainly not Watches, TV, accessories, proprietary licensing, dongles, and (probably not) services.

Do I think that next-big-thing something is some kind of movie studio SBU? I'm doubting it. I doubt even the most passionate fans are going to be so quick to pay up + 30-40% more for revolutionary "thinner" motion pictures or TV shows in volume. Look through TV-related threads on this site and there is massive sentiment dreaming of everything (video) for next to nothing (price). Does Apple-made video flip that mentality around, even among this crowd? If Apple thinks so, I suspect they better find a way to re-animate Steve Jobs to try to sell that proposition.

BUT, more competition is generally good for us consumers. Even Apple implying they were going to make a television scared the whole television manufacturing industry into significantly stepping up their game. Maybe Apple implying they want to make video media will scare the whole video-making industry into doing the same? I wonder if we get some amazing new cars in the next few years just because of the idea that Apple was and/or may still be working toward rolling out an Apple Car? And if so, I wish Apple would start seeding rumors that they are working on an Apple cure all for all major diseases, an Apple Peace-making machine, an Apple food-making machine, an Apple clean energy-generating machine and so on... just so that the rest of the players in the biggest picture issues of our time might be scared into rolling out the best they can... and aggressively trying to innovate better than their current best.

H*ll, how about some rumors about an Apple Starship while they're at it? Having just had yet another less-than-pleasant experience with air travel, I'd LOVE to see an Apple transporter... or just the idea that they are working on one spurring on Samsung or anyone else to actually get on it and maybe figure it out.

And yes, I know, I know. If Samsung invents a transporter, we'll get beamed to our destination with our limbs on wrong... or parts of our body blowing up en route, etc. So let's just hope that Apple rumors it and does it for the sake of the bigger idea here.

 

[Rafterman]

Apple isn’t a computer company.



That new market is wearables.

Which Apple turns out to be the major player (or rather, the only player, incidentally).

Then they should cancel all Mac, iPhone, iPad and OS development and become "Apple Studios".

 

[iapplelove]

Right, and what will that be? It’s happened in the past but where it’s made sense and on a smaller scale, it’d be stupid to say it’ll definitely happen again. The truth is the that thing replacing smartphones will be another smartphone, it’s hard to see any other form factor succeeding in such a way and being easy to use as a touch based system (to the point where it’s not just a smartphone).
But you’re right in saying the iPhone money will dry up, that’d theoretically happen sooner, but the growth in services has shown there is a lot of money there. Sitting down in a corporate environment to ask ‘what’s the next big thing’ doesn’t do much a lot of the time. But they are seeing AR as the future, like others, and they have done the best job of it compared to competitors.

I do like your comment however I do disagree with one statement. Even though it is hard to imagine something eventually will replace the smartphone. It's inevitable.

If Apple isn't at the leading cusp of what ever that piece of magnificent tech is well they will be left behind. Again it may not be tomorrow but it will happen.

 

[aapl owner]

Oh my, Tim Cook. The Culver Studios is where Gone With The Wind was filmed. You know, that racist, Confederacy loving movie that is now being banned from showing in theaters because of its offensive content.

Sounds like a bad idea for Apple to buy this property since the SJW's may want to burn the place down.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Because they wanted to bake their streaming service into Apple Music and wanted to recruit Dre and Iovine ?

Do you really think Apple needed Beats to roll out a streaming service?

What has Dre done for Apple since joining the team?

Has Iovine exactly lit some big fires since joining the team too?

Nothing against either guy- I'm sure they are great in their own ways. Personally, I suspect Beats was much more about profit than about a streaming platform and 2 accomplished guys within Beats. Apple could directly see how much Beats product was selling right out of their own stores, could easily evaluate the profit margins of Beats products and decided that $3 Billion could be a smallish investment vs. all that profitability to follow.

I doubt that any objective person could argue that the Beats purchase was about QUALITY of product. And I suspect $3 Billion could have bought a number of other Beats-like manufacturers that make much higher quality products.

 

[Rob_2811]

The strangest part about the whole thing is that they have obviously identified services as an area of growth but its as if they can't actually see why their services are growing. Surely nobody at Apple is deluded enough to think that their services are any good? They are tied to the hardware, it isn't like they are Google and millions of people are using their services outside of their own hardware platform.

How many people who don't own iOS devices or a Mac use iCloud? How many people on Android are using Apple Music? If hardware sales slow the services revenue is likely to do the same. They would do well to remember that.

This TV service/original content has to be cross platform from the off or they might aswell not bother, if they try to use it as a means to prop up the Apple TVs shrinking market share it will go nowhere. The reason the likes of Netflix has done so well with original content is that is available pretty much everywhere.

 

[Jsameds]

Apple isn’t a computer company.



That new market is wearables.

Which Apple turns out to be the major player (or rather, the only player, incidentally).

It's hard to imagine but I believe you're right. Wearables will eventually do everything smartphones to but in a better and more convenient manner. It's going to be a weird transition but I see the argument being:

"Who wants to carry something in their pocket that they have to pull out and unlock every time they need to use the internet or take a photo, right?"

Much like smartphones, tablets, laptops and wireless internet have saved us from heading to a different room and sitting at the computer desk every time we need it. Wearables are the next step.

What worries me is the step after that...

 

[Abazigal]

Then they should cancel all Mac, iPhone, iPad and OS development and become "Apple Studios".

Strawman argument. No one is saying that Apple shouldn’t focus on Macs, just that it isn’t the be all and end all of what makes their company tick. Though I would argue that it is increasingly becoming a less important part of Apple, and I won’t be surprised if Apple ends up dropping the Mac business altogether one day.

The point here is that Apple isn’t a tech company, much less a computer company. Apple is a design company who believes that consumers want more than just technology in their lives. Apple is a company that delivers great user experiences, which they do using their control over hardware, software and services.

The biggest risk is precisely it becoming a tech / computer company. That’s precisely why Apple is entering so many new areas, from AR to health to self-driving cars to TV. They believe they have the means to improve the user experience in these areas by making products that can change the world.

That’s why technology alone is not enough, and that’s why the last thing Apple needs to be is to be just a “computer company”.

 

[Rob_2811]

Do you really think Apple needed Beats to roll out a streaming service?

What has Dre done for Apple since joining the team?

Has Iovine exactly lit some big fires since joining the team too?

Nothing against either guy- I'm sure they are great in their own ways. Personally, I suspect Beats was much more about profit than about a streaming platform and 2 accomplished guys within Beats. Apple could directly see how much Beats product was selling right out of their own stores, could easily evaluate the profit margins of Beats products and decided that $3 Billion could be a smallish investment vs. all that profitability to follow.

I doubt that any objective person could argue that the Beats purchase was about QUALITY of product. And I suspect $3 Billion could have bought a number of other Beats-like manufacturers that make much higher quality products.

Yes.

We've seen how Apple, post Steve Jobs, has fared when trying to negotiate content deals with the entertainment industry and it hasn't gone well.

Having the streaming infrastructure and licensing in place will have been hugely beneficial to AM as will having two vastly experienced music industry execs on board and all of the contacts that go with that. The alternative was letting Eddie Cue get on with things like they tried to do with the TV service. The TV service that they still haven't been able to secure licensing deals for..

I'm sure they won't turn their nose up at whatever the headphones bring in but its seems pretty clear that they aren't that interested in that product line up.

 

[Abazigal]

Do you really think Apple needed Beats to roll out a streaming service?

What has Dre done for Apple since joining the team?

Has Iovine exactly lit some big fires since joining the team too?

Nothing against either guy- I'm sure they are great in their own ways. Personally, I suspect Beats was much more about profit than about a streaming platform and 2 accomplished guys within Beats. Apple could directly see how much Beats product was selling right out of their own stores, could easily evaluate the profit margins of Beats products and decided that $3 Billion could be a smallish investment vs. all that profitability to follow.

I doubt that any objective person could argue that the Beats purchase was about QUALITY of product. And I suspect $3 Billion could have bought a number of other Beats-like manufacturers that make much higher quality products.

Except that for 3 billion, Apple got a music streaming service, people with ties to the music industry, and a profitable headphone business.

It’s quite a good deal when you think about it. Apple effectively killed 3 birds with one stone here.

 

[tpham5919]

Oh my, Tim Cook. The Culver Studios is where Gone With The Wind was filmed. You know, that racist, Confederacy loving movie that is now being banned from showing in theaters because of its offensive content.

oohh... "oh no u didn't!"

 

[FSMBP]

Smartwatches, smartphones, tablets and digital music stores are four "trades" they are masters of at this moment in time.



If I gave my son an inheritance and this is how he blew it, I'd be totally fine with that.

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That may be true but focus is key. Apple is fortunately earned loyal fans since 2002ish and built a great foundation that they can ride for years (once locked into an ecosystem, and you don't like what they offer - it's hard to get out). That doesn't mean everything they do is the right move. Especially given Apple's stance with human rights - it's odd that they have a close relationship with Interscope (with music from high-profile artists using very derogatory terms).

Apple has time/money to fail and only time will tell if they are spreading themselves too thin (by time, I mean 5-10 years. Giants don't fall quickly).

 

[Pilgrim1099]

iPhone, Apple Music, iPad, and Apple Watch were all "too little too late" ventures.

It's a shame that all of them failed miserably...

One of the categories will slow down significantly. It's going to be inevitable that Apple will no longer be #1 because Tim Cook is the beginning of that spiral downwards. What to know who's next if he goes? Chances are it's Jeff Williams, the COO. He's probably even worse.

And imagine if iPhone sales died out. How do you think Apple is going to be able to afford Apple Park HQ? It's one of the most expensive buildings in the world. They're going to have to pay to maintain this place year after year.

Apple Music is a cluster of a mess and needs a massive rebuild without Beats in it. Why do you think Apple's been jumping to buy Beats, get into film/tv production, Project Titan, AR and such? It's all a money grab so that they can hold onto their precious Apple Park. Without them, Apple is dead in the water. They're not in it to 'change the world' or 'make a difference'. They don't give a crap anymore, now that Jobs has passed on. Do you think they care, besides the political issues they fight on?

They don't have a Jobs 2.0 to kick them in the a$$ and steer it back in the right direction.

It's a PR stunt to sell the illusion that they 'care' and offering a better 'experience'.

The Culver Studios move is another desperate move to catch up.

 

[urbanslaughter1997]

Gee, Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke failed to thrill audiences? There's a surprise. I couldn't have cared less about either of these offerings. Amazon and Netflix come out with great shows that people can't wait to see and Apple jumps in with fluff that no one is even mildly interested in. Step it up Apple. I've been very disappointed lately and I'm a long-time fan.