Dear Apple: Buy Sony Studios. You get a great back catalog, and you get plenty of modern franchise successes, such as Spider-Man, Jumanji, and James Bond. Yeah, it’ll cost you, but you would instantly become a ”must-have” service and can charge Netflix prices. Until then, enjoy having the afterthought of a streaming service.
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Apple Wants to Draw Subscribers to Apple TV+ With More Feature Films
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I accidentally canceled my Apple TV+, I was pissed, but after acople of days I realized that I don't miss it.
100%. This.
The people oversimplifying shows and taking a beyond superficial look through the Apple TV+ catalog are proving the point that people will jump at anything to find nefarious agendas.
Although, your Costco analogy really doesn't apply, I think you are right…
The problem is, with AppleTV+, Apple has obviously stepped into a market that they know nothing about. The semi success of Apple Music has fooled them into thinking they've got this streaming media thing down. (Mind you Apple still runs way behind Spotify in number of paid subscribers, 72 million Apple Music, 155 million Spotify). As they are finding out, there's more to video streaming services than just making shows.
Apple is taking the opposite approach to most of the services. They are trying to make the studio from the streaming service instead of the studio creating the streaming service from their content. Everybody forgets that when even Netflix started out, they had no original content. All of their content was other studios' back catalogs (and a lot of it was crap). Netflix streaming benefited from being the only game in town when they started (and also the streaming was bundled with the disk mail in price in the beginning to nurse it along). Apple suffers from having no back catalog. There is nothing for you if you just want to browse for an old movie to watch. You leave the service to go elsewhere. And, once you leave the app they've lost you.
I'd keep HBO Max just because of DC's "Harley Quinn" and "Doom Patrol."They do from HBO side, but the amount of films HBO Max displays in their GUI has eclipsed that. You have WB, DC, TSM, HBO film archives online. Funny enough Tubi has a lot more content of specific genres then HBO Max, such as westerns, martial arts, classics, maybe some other categories.
Meh. I keep HBO Max despite the clutter DC (CW+ level) shows. HBO still puts out some prestige TV thankfully. But I keep finding less and less reasons to stick with HBO Max with all the garbage Netflix level stuff they keep polluting their content library with.
Jobs picked Sculley and the board of director's agreed. And, we all know how that worked out…
Not to mention Apple's App Store came into existence during Jobs' tenure.
I think the problem here is many people are using Cook's past success as a reason why Apple TV+ will eventually be successful. Not everything he does will be a success. And, that's OK. It's just the amount of money that's continually being pumped into a failing venture is what has me worried.
I'm not giving Cook credit for creating or coming up with the idea of the App Store but for the success that it and their services business has become.
Its success is why we're seeing developers and companies (e.g. Epic) complain about it.
Apple's $2 trillion value is proof that Tim Cook's services plan worked
Investors have started seeing Apple's business less like other hardware makers and more like a software company, as indicated by Apple's quickly rising P-E ratio, which is now over 33.
Apple started to refocus investor attention on its services business back in 2015, as iPhone growth first slowed.
Its definition of services includes a lot of different things: iTunes purchases, App Store fees, Apple Music, licensing, AppleCare warranties on hardware, and revenue from Apple Pay. In the past two years, Apple has started to launch new subscription services to bolster the business, such as Apple News+, a digital magazine bundle, and Apple TV+, a competitor to Netflix and Disney+. Last year, Apple also introduced Apple Card, a credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs integrated into the iPhone’s software.
“The reason we’re talking about ... $2 trillion when it feels like it was just passing $1 trillion is just how well they’ve done vertically integrating through their technology stack, starting with hardware, and then now moving into software,” Ark Invest’s Nick Grous said. “When we think about Apple, long term, we may not be focused on what other analysts are focused on, being iPhone sales and device sales. We’re actually really focused on their services.”
In 2017, Cook set an ambitious growth target for the business: Apple wanted to double its 2016 services revenue by 2020, which would put the goal at roughly $46 billion by this year.
It hit that goal six months ahead of schedule. In the quarter ending in June, Apple reported $13.16 billion in services revenue, accounting for about 22% of the company’s total sales.
Before Apple was able to get investors to look at it like a software company, its low P-E ratio compared with Big Tech peers like Microsoft was an object of fascination for techies and investors. Investors saw its hardware business as “hits-driven” and worried that future iPhones and iPads might not sell as well as they had in the past. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen remarked in 2015 that Apple traded like a “steel mill going out of business.”
According to Tom Forte, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, the triumph underscores Cook’s unique strengths compared with founding CEO Steve Jobs.
“Steve Jobs famously would focus on, ‘our goal is to determine the few things that we should do and do them as well as possible.’ And then because of the maturation of the smartphone market, I think that forced Tim Cook’s hand. He’s basically said OK, what is Apple good at? Now let’s apply that to a lot of different things,” said Forte. “And I think services is probably one of the best examples, meaning that Apple’s not just going to be a hardware company.”
Its definition of services includes a lot of different things: iTunes purchases, App Store fees, Apple Music, licensing, AppleCare warranties on hardware, and revenue from Apple Pay. In the past two years, Apple has started to launch new subscription services to bolster the business, such as Apple News+, a digital magazine bundle, and Apple TV+, a competitor to Netflix and Disney+. Last year, Apple also introduced Apple Card, a credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs integrated into the iPhone’s software.
“The reason we’re talking about ... $2 trillion when it feels like it was just passing $1 trillion is just how well they’ve done vertically integrating through their technology stack, starting with hardware, and then now moving into software,” Ark Invest’s Nick Grous said. “When we think about Apple, long term, we may not be focused on what other analysts are focused on, being iPhone sales and device sales. We’re actually really focused on their services.”
In 2017, Cook set an ambitious growth target for the business: Apple wanted to double its 2016 services revenue by 2020, which would put the goal at roughly $46 billion by this year.
It hit that goal six months ahead of schedule. In the quarter ending in June, Apple reported $13.16 billion in services revenue, accounting for about 22% of the company’s total sales.
Before Apple was able to get investors to look at it like a software company, its low P-E ratio compared with Big Tech peers like Microsoft was an object of fascination for techies and investors. Investors saw its hardware business as “hits-driven” and worried that future iPhones and iPads might not sell as well as they had in the past. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen remarked in 2015 that Apple traded like a “steel mill going out of business.”
According to Tom Forte, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, the triumph underscores Cook’s unique strengths compared with founding CEO Steve Jobs.
“Steve Jobs famously would focus on, ‘our goal is to determine the few things that we should do and do them as well as possible.’ And then because of the maturation of the smartphone market, I think that forced Tim Cook’s hand. He’s basically said OK, what is Apple good at? Now let’s apply that to a lot of different things,” said Forte. “And I think services is probably one of the best examples, meaning that Apple’s not just going to be a hardware company.”
Tim Cook has had a stellar run at Apple — even without another mega-smash like the iPhone
Apple under Cook hasn't invented a new, game-changing product like the iPhone. Instead, he's leveraged the iPhone's success into new areas of growth.
Apple was in a sour spot shortly after Tim Cook took over as Apple’s CEO.
After the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, critics began questioning if the company could continue to produce breakthrough products like iPod, iPhone and iPad. That pessimism continued into 2012 and 2013 as rivals like Samsung pushed forward with iPhone alternatives that had bigger screens and wild features.
Apple was doomed, according to the naysayers. The company lost its spiritual leader, and an “operations” guy like Cook didn’t have the instincts to create another disruptive product. The company continued to beat earnings expectations, but the longer term outlook didn’t look great.
The naysayers were wrong.
Apple under Cook hasn’t invented a new, game-changing product like the iPhone. Instead, he’s leveraged the iPhone’s success into new areas of growth.
Under Cook, the iPhone has become the linchpin for the entire Apple ecosystem. Even though unit sales have fallen over the last couple years, the company has built a compelling system of accessories and services around it.
So what attributed to Cook’s amazing run? And what continues to drive the stock higher in the new year?
Services
Today, Apple talks about its growing suite of services more than anything else.
The segment includes products like iCloud storage, App Store sales, Apple Card, Apple Music subscriptions and the billions Google pays to be the default search engine on Apple products.
After the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, critics began questioning if the company could continue to produce breakthrough products like iPod, iPhone and iPad. That pessimism continued into 2012 and 2013 as rivals like Samsung pushed forward with iPhone alternatives that had bigger screens and wild features.
Apple was doomed, according to the naysayers. The company lost its spiritual leader, and an “operations” guy like Cook didn’t have the instincts to create another disruptive product. The company continued to beat earnings expectations, but the longer term outlook didn’t look great.
The naysayers were wrong.
Apple under Cook hasn’t invented a new, game-changing product like the iPhone. Instead, he’s leveraged the iPhone’s success into new areas of growth.
Under Cook, the iPhone has become the linchpin for the entire Apple ecosystem. Even though unit sales have fallen over the last couple years, the company has built a compelling system of accessories and services around it.
So what attributed to Cook’s amazing run? And what continues to drive the stock higher in the new year?
Services
Today, Apple talks about its growing suite of services more than anything else.
The segment includes products like iCloud storage, App Store sales, Apple Card, Apple Music subscriptions and the billions Google pays to be the default search engine on Apple products.
Too late. It was announced yesterday that Netflix and Sony entered into a licensing deal.
Netflix And Sony Break Ground With Film Licensing Deal Replacing Starz Pact, Including First Look At New Direct-To-Streaming Titles
Netflix and Sony Pictures have set a multi-year licensing deal giving the streaming giant an exclusive window for theatrical titles.
deadline.com
I haven't watched the show, but if you are referring to the episode that I keep hearing about, there is a rumor from Overlord DVD that Disney's tune out time stamp data showed that almost 80% of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier viewers stopped watching at or shortly after a scene with some obvious social commentary.
80% is a lot, maybe too much to actually believe, and it doesn't include how many people continued watching at a later time, but if that 80% is remotely true, I have a feeling that regardless of people's political opinions, most people just want their entertainment to be free of the all the politics that they are constantly exposed to elsewhere.
I have Apple TV+ for free at the moment, and have had it for a long while, but have yet to watch anything on it. I am sure that when I finally watch the ATV+ content there will be some social commentary plots/scenes, which is fine, but hopefully it will be tastefully done, unlike most shows from the last few years.
RIP The Rookie
Lots of companies take a huge loss for years to try to break into a field.
I believe Microsoft did that with the Xbox. Twitter & FB were unprofitable for years
Now whether they can make it a success in enough years is another thing, but they have plenty of money to blow on this project.
Here’s what I think Apple is betting on. The brand, the stars, and award buzz. This early in the game it hasn’t hugely paid of yet in my opinion.
It’s hard for me to get people to sign up. Here’s what I think they struggle with:
Amount of original content- This is obviously a big issue and I don’t blame Apple entirely. It’s something that will build over time. I think 2022 is going to be a great year for the service and really pick up. Unfortunately COVID really hurt their production. The service came out a few months before COVID hit. They shut everything down in March of 2020. Production was shut down for 6-8 months depending on the show. It took them an entire year to film the show “Invasion”. On top of that they must take other precautions to keep the cast and crew safe slowing things down and possibly rewriting scripts. That’s a big deal when your the new kid on the block. Also keep in mind that Apple has produced more content than Netflix when they started making their originals in its first few years.
Marketing- I love the Apple logo but just because it has an Apple on it doesn’t mean customers will flock to it. Obviously Apple has tons of data on how to advertise products but I think this is a bit of a different beast. In my own personal surveys in film and tv groups on Facebook and Reddit people either don’t know what it is or they don’t how to find the service at all. I think they need to do actual commercials broadcasted on tv with 30-60 seconds showing the content. Then short 15-30 seconds ads on Facebook and YouTube. Free trails and word of mouth to me isn’t enough.
TV APP- Many people think when they sign up for TV+ they are getting all the content advertised throughout the app from iTunes and the other tv channels. It’s off putting and confusing for the customer.
Sports-I think it would be a good bet even though I don’t watch sports.
The big question- Is it better to spend 5-10 billion on buying someone like MGM, Sony, etc to have a back catalog of content and IP to expand on or using all that money to make truly original content. Personally, unlike most people I have over 400 movies I’ve bought on iTunes. So I barely spend time watching another services back catalog. What I spend the most time doing is watching a services original content and then canceling when I done. I imagine most customers watch a good mix of that. I think I might rather them just focus on originals.
I’m hopping that for 2022 will have atleast two new series a month and one additional series coming back for a new season. Plus one feature film (not documentary) a month. They need people coming back every Friday/weekend. They have a good amount of shows announced, in production, or in development. Just need to get them finished and on the service.
It’s hard for me to get people to sign up. Here’s what I think they struggle with:
Amount of original content- This is obviously a big issue and I don’t blame Apple entirely. It’s something that will build over time. I think 2022 is going to be a great year for the service and really pick up. Unfortunately COVID really hurt their production. The service came out a few months before COVID hit. They shut everything down in March of 2020. Production was shut down for 6-8 months depending on the show. It took them an entire year to film the show “Invasion”. On top of that they must take other precautions to keep the cast and crew safe slowing things down and possibly rewriting scripts. That’s a big deal when your the new kid on the block. Also keep in mind that Apple has produced more content than Netflix when they started making their originals in its first few years.
Marketing- I love the Apple logo but just because it has an Apple on it doesn’t mean customers will flock to it. Obviously Apple has tons of data on how to advertise products but I think this is a bit of a different beast. In my own personal surveys in film and tv groups on Facebook and Reddit people either don’t know what it is or they don’t how to find the service at all. I think they need to do actual commercials broadcasted on tv with 30-60 seconds showing the content. Then short 15-30 seconds ads on Facebook and YouTube. Free trails and word of mouth to me isn’t enough.
TV APP- Many people think when they sign up for TV+ they are getting all the content advertised throughout the app from iTunes and the other tv channels. It’s off putting and confusing for the customer.
Sports-I think it would be a good bet even though I don’t watch sports.
The big question- Is it better to spend 5-10 billion on buying someone like MGM, Sony, etc to have a back catalog of content and IP to expand on or using all that money to make truly original content. Personally, unlike most people I have over 400 movies I’ve bought on iTunes. So I barely spend time watching another services back catalog. What I spend the most time doing is watching a services original content and then canceling when I done. I imagine most customers watch a good mix of that. I think I might rather them just focus on originals.
I’m hopping that for 2022 will have atleast two new series a month and one additional series coming back for a new season. Plus one feature film (not documentary) a month. They need people coming back every Friday/weekend. They have a good amount of shows announced, in production, or in development. Just need to get them finished and on the service.
Apple needs to sell the TV APP. Not just the TV+ service. TV+ is just a small perk in the overall Apple TV experience. They need to market the FULL APP and its benefits against competing apps like Hulu and Netflix. This also means giving more of a damn about the user experience and interface of the app itself (not to mention squash many many bugs the Apple TV App runs into). Additionally, they need to up their licensing game to acquire more channels in the app. Right now Paramount+ is the most compelling thing about the TV App in terms of built-in content, not TV+. But they need to continue building up the TV+ service to be a NETWORK competitor to the likes of HBO, Showtime and Epix. They also need to better market the Apple TV experience as a whole to convince people this is the way to cord cut. People intending to supplement their cable subs with streaming services won't be willing to buy into streaming as much as cord cutters. Apple needs to market TV+ and TV channels as one service that people can use to replace cable, choosing what they want to pay for instead of settling for a single package. Channels are the real premiere service in the TV App, TV+ just being their little showcase for how they work.
Great! Would love to see Apple TV+ boost their film offerings.
As well as making their own stuff, can I recommend Apple to buy Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ adaption and franchise from Warner Bros & HBO as the latter look to be screwing up the delivery of this film and any hopes for sequels and follow-ups! ‘Dune’ & ‘Foundation’ under the same roof would be amazing.
And while you’re at it Apple, buy the latest James Bond ‘No Time to Die’ (I know you recently tried to) because box office receipts on the scale of 1 billion dollars or so are a thing of the past for the Sony Pictures & big film studios, at least for several years...
As well as making their own stuff, can I recommend Apple to buy Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ adaption and franchise from Warner Bros & HBO as the latter look to be screwing up the delivery of this film and any hopes for sequels and follow-ups! ‘Dune’ & ‘Foundation’ under the same roof would be amazing.
And while you’re at it Apple, buy the latest James Bond ‘No Time to Die’ (I know you recently tried to) because box office receipts on the scale of 1 billion dollars or so are a thing of the past for the Sony Pictures & big film studios, at least for several years...
Features are not the problem. Until Apple offers the same streaming of mainstream TV the way YouTube TV does they will never glue users to their Apple TV. The family is constantly in and out of YouTube TV, Netflix, and Amazon while using Apple TV to track what we have watched and need to watch on these services.
Top comment 👍 I really enjoyed Palmer and the ted lasso series, look forward to seeing what’s coming.
Personally I prefer to watch more shows that movies. I can see the traditional logic about having "blockbuster" movies, but, many of us have a short attention span and thinking about spending a 2 hours in a movie is unbearable. Still I can have a mini marathon of 3 or 4 episodes of Better Call Saul. Illogic?, sure. Still I stand by it. Apple TV sure has top notch production values, that is commendable, but still need muuuuch more good stories. For my personal liking, "For all mankind" is way too much american centered vision, "we have arrive to the xxx or do xxx first than X country, for all mind!", really?, the russians arriving to the moon first and claiming the "marxist lenininist way of live" is such a tragedy for the whole world?. All characters in the show are the most stereotypical characters ever. Kind of a 80s show but with current production values. Apple needs more shows like Handmaiden tale or Servant or Impulse (on Youtube, really very decent show) or shows run by real show producers with interest in stories, not in spending the millions and millions of budget per year that Apple mandates to spend in non-compeling shows. I love Servant and found Ted Lasso strangely addictive, refreshing and optimistic. Please hire the writers of HBO shows.
you don’t actually believe overlord dvd do you? This guy is just as bad as Mike Zeroh. Both guys make money with ad revenue getting you to watch click bait headline and bs rumors they know nothing about.
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The problem is Apple made it clear from the start they weren’t going to take creative risks, and focus more on prestige, awards, and brand.
Which may have worked 2 or 3 decades ago, but the market is different now. Audiences don’t care as much about awards, brand or even movie stars.
They need to invest in riskier properties that have potential to be game changers, like the sopranos, game of thrones, breaking bad and orange is the new black.
They need a must-see show, which they still don’t have, and the only way they’re going to is to get more adventurous. Forget the brand, forget politics, forget star power, forget resumes.
Which may have worked 2 or 3 decades ago, but the market is different now. Audiences don’t care as much about awards, brand or even movie stars.
They need to invest in riskier properties that have potential to be game changers, like the sopranos, game of thrones, breaking bad and orange is the new black.
They need a must-see show, which they still don’t have, and the only way they’re going to is to get more adventurous. Forget the brand, forget politics, forget star power, forget resumes.
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With all the cash Apple has you would think that it would be a no brainier to go out and scoop up a studio along with its back catalogue.
The bond and spider-man licenses revert back to Danjaq and Marvel/Disney respectivley if Sony studios is sold on.
Yup, people who have actually watched it often discover they like it. People who talk about it without having watched it generally do not.
You saw Greyhound and Cherry as “family friendly”? You must have a different idea of what that means than I do.
Have you watched: See, The Morning Show, or Servant? You think those shows are “careful”, trying not to ”scare anyone away”? Wow. Disney acquired Love, Victor with Fox, and put it where it makes sense, on Hulu. It is not part of any other their franchises therefore not really Disney+ content.
What have you actually watched on the service? See, For All Mankind, and the upcoming Foundation are all science fiction, In with the Devil, Defending Jacob and Truth Be Told are all crime series. Tehran is an amazing thriller.
Paramount has its own streaming service and still makes content for Apple TV+. Sony also has content on Apple TV+, as does Universal.