Their App Store would shrink down to nothing. Why would they do that just to please you?
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Apple TV's Second-Largest Market Is Brazil, Says Eddy Cue
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turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
Apple used to care about making the best products for their customers.
btw, that's quite an indictment on their App Store.
It all hinges on swindling people out of IAP and gaming loot cash.
It's a casino addiction revenue extraction model basically.
That explains a lot of things with Apple these days.
It's very hard to make sense of it. I know apple are geniuses but.... Surely instead of spending billions on great TV ... they could spend billions on software - i.e. great games only for Macs and apple devices.. which would drive purchases. They could even make it subscription based. Imagine a slate of triple A titles coming out each year if you subbed to an Apple Gaming service...
Would tap into a big audience too.
I know nothing about the market or localization targeting either country, but was curious whether Brazilians being annoyed by localization targeting Portugal would even be an issue. I'd think with 20 times the population, even with a lower average income Brazil would be a drastically larger market than Portugal so would be the default if you were only doing one Portuguese localization.
Being Apple TV's second-largest market certainly seems to back that thinking.
As big as Brazil is, it's a bit surprising it's that large of a market for Apple TV, but I guess with it being unavailable in China and each EU nation counted separately, it shouldn't be too surprising that it topped India and Indonesia as the two higher-population countries.
I'd guess others near the top of the list would be Russia, Japan, Mexico, Germany, and the UK, but I'm not finding any info on that kind of ranking other than Cue's comment here, so I'm curious who's #3 and below.
I read a post where someone said that 75% of their viewing is pre-1965. I can imagine that’d be a nice set of vids to play ads against in a free tier, but Apple doesn’t have a free tier.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
I think the TV stuff is a vanity play.
Somebody inside Apple, maybe Tim, likes being in this space.
Nothing about it has made any business sense which is very unusual for Tim Cook Apple.
And the EU would be up in arms because of the millions of dollars their developers would lose out on.
There’s ONE source for that info, “The Information”. And they based that on an estimation of the number of subscribers being 45 million in March of 2025. In October 2025, Eddy Cue said “We haven’t said what our numbers are but we’re significantly more than that.” So, while “The Information” got a good bit of exposure from that (all stories reference them), I wouldn’t really put much stock in single sourced information.
Cesar Battistini
macrumors 6502
Im from Brazil, and a big reason I love Apple TV is the lack of localized content.
I want Apple made high quality shows. If I want Globo (a public funded media conglomerate) slop there is already a LOT of it elsewhere.
I want Apple made high quality shows. If I want Globo (a public funded media conglomerate) slop there is already a LOT of it elsewhere.
Student of Life
macrumors 65816
HiVolt
macrumors 68020
Too expensive now, maybe. They could have done it right away, especially since they were going to do originals, so they could have used an existing studio with all the stuff already in place.
But even now. $111 Billion. Apple is worth nearly 4 TRILLION. that's almost a rounding error. 😉
bLackjackj
macrumors 65816
Never,..he literally has the job that everyone wants. From free VIP F1 passes to Apple Music, to making millions and stock bonuses,..this guy is living the dream!
This guy probably spends more time travelling and in 5 star hotels than any other employee..what a life! Not required in the office this guy….
There are good shows on AppleTV. However, there are a LOT more good shows elsewhere. Every business is different, so they are going through the pains of starting from scratch basically. And not having bought out another studio by now is making it more difficult in my opinion to drive more people to ATV. However, they also are not bleeding as much money as WB/D is. What $32 BILLION in debt....... 😱 So it's a trade off. Buy something and "hope" you can make your money back on the catalog, while still spending on new shows. Or, just go at it yourself. Take forever, but possibly not go into as much debt or any. Clearly Apple is still losing money here. But, not as much as others.
Worth and have are different things. Sure, they could have bought it all stock or something. But, still have to "pay" that debt back, and keep those studios going for sometime.
I don't think Apple has the capacity yet to pull that off. Too many things too many studios. That's not how Apple is built.
It's interesting that it's in South American vs., e.g., Canada.
Apple's SVP of services Eddy Cue has revealed that Brazil is Apple TV's second-largest market by subscriber count and its fastest-growing, in an interview with Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo (via 9to5Mac).
Speaking on the sidelines of Apple's recent media event in Santa Monica where the company previewed its 2026 content slate, Cue acknowledged that Apple has yet to produce any original content in Brazil. Competitors like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney, meanwhile, have turned the country into a major production hub, leaving Apple in catch-up mode.
Cue also reaffirmed Apple's commitment to theatrical releases through distribution partnerships, pointing to the success of "F1: The Movie," which was released in theaters by Warner Bros. and went on to earn an Oscar nomination. Cue conceded that "the bar for leaving home and going to the movie theater" is getting increasingly higher, but he believes the experience remains irreplaceable.
At the time of the interview, Netflix was still in the running to acquire Warner Bros. Asked whether a potential deal could complicate Apple's theatrical distribution arrangements, Cue was unconcerned. "We have a great relationship with the Netflix team – I've known them for a long time – and the same is true of our relationship with Warner," he said. "I know Ted [Sarandos – Netflix CEO] very well. Well enough to believe we'll continue working together in the future."
Netflix has since dropped out of the bidding, with Paramount now widely expected to win ownership of Warner Bros. following regulatory approval. Meanwhile, Apple has struck a U.S. partnership with Netflix to bring the complete latest season of Formula 1: Drive to Survive to Apple TV.
A March 2025 report by The Information revealed that Apple TV subscriptions grew to around 45 million in 2024, but it was still losing more than $1 billion annually. The company has spent more than $5 billion a year on content since the service launched in 2019, but this was reduced by $500 million in 2024 in response to a push for cutbacks from Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives.
Article Link: Apple TV's Second-Largest Market Is Brazil, Says Eddy Cue
App Store isn't a product. It's a service. I'm assuming you're not a fan of services/subscriptions in general.