Apple Wants to Sell 4K Movies for $20 in iTunes, While Film Studios Want $25 to $30

[democracyrules]

Apple is said to be "scrambling" to strike deals with movie studios in Hollywood regarding the exact prices of 4K movies in the iTunes Store, taking places just weeks ahead of the rumored debut of the new 4K Apple TV in mid-September.

While the talks have been ongoing for some time, discussions have been recently hampered by disagreements over the pricing of 4K movie purchases, according to sources close to the talks (via The Wall Street Journal). Apple wants to charge $19.99 for 4K movie purchases in its digital iTunes Store, the same price it currently charges for newly-released HD films.

However, many Hollywood studios it has talked with are pushing back on that price point and are looking to charge customers a premium for the new 4K content: $25 to $30 for a 4K movie in iTunes.
Apple is said to be trying to finish these discussions well before September 12, the currently rumored date that will see the unveiling of the new 4K Apple TV, iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, Apple Watch Series 3, and more software-related announcements. As iTunes loses market share to companies like Amazon and Comcast, Apple is hoping that a revitalized Apple TV streaming box with 4K content -- which many rival devices have already supported -- will help boost iTunes sales into the last half of 2017 and the new year.

In other Hollywood-related talks, earlier this month it was reported that multiple studios were pushing forward with a plan to offer digital movie rentals mere weeks after they appear in theaters. Studios like Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. were said to be in talks with partners, including Apple, to offer movies in iTunes as early as 17 days after their theatrical debut for about $50, or four to six weeks from release for $30.

Article Link: Apple Wants to Sell 4K Movies for $20 in iTunes, While Film Studios Want $25 to $30

Kudos and thanks to Apple for thinking about their customers Apple is the best company and brand in the planet.

 

[Rychiar]

who is still buying movies?

 

[NecroKill]

I have no problem understanding it, maybe you should try harder?

I tried and concluded that you are talking rubbish. First of all "industry standard" what the hell is that? Second no one in their right mind will pay 30 bucks for a movie download. For 30 bucks here in Europe i can buy 2 tickets to a cinema and watch a proper film properly with a friend.

 

[mattopotamus]

who is still buying movies?

most people with a home theater, myself included. Physical media is so much better, and not just from a picture quality standpoint, but audio as well. For the same price as two people to go to the movies, I can own the movie.

I recently saw Dunkirk in IMAX, and all that did was confirm that I prefer my home setup.

 

[BWhaler]

I have a huge movie collection in itunes, but I don't think I'd even spend 20 bucks. 30-35 is laughable.

Honestly, a better image isn't worth the premium. It costs the studios nothing to sell 4K, so give your customers a better product. Otherwise, we will just watch unlimited Netflix, with their amaxing original content and awesome catalog of tv shows, for 10 bucks a month.

The world has changed. The studios need to get with the program.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I consistently get new movies around $24-$26, but yes, they are more than $20.

I'm shopping in the wrong place! Where do you get them?

 

[maceric]

Since we don't actually "own" these digital movies, books, music (when we die, we can't give them to someone) these are just licensed. If they make it too high a price to pay, most 4K movie buffs will just torrent the files. They need to make these very affordable. I hope they include the digital version when/if we buy a bluray version too.

 

[Rogifan]

So Apple wants a lower price for content that they don't produce while they charge higher, than industry standard, prices for their hardware.

Of course, that’s why. It’s easier to charge a premium for hardware when content is cheaper. But if Apple is getting its standard 30% you’d think they’d want higher prices, especially considering Cook committed to Wall Street that Apple would double services revenues. Perhaps they think people won’t pay more than $20.

 

[nostresshere]

Seems like most of America is complaining about the cost of Sat and Cable TV. Makes them look cheap vs paying $20 for ONE movie. One movie that you might not even like.

Then again, in the past 5 years I have actually paid extra money for a couple of movies. We no longer buy DVD movies, or CDs and the RARELY pay per view via Itunes or Directv.

 

[Foggydog]

Haha. I'm cheaper than all of you.
I only rent SD movies for 2.99 then watch on my 1080p iPad Pro .
If I am ever interested in watching the movie again, I'll just rent it again. And now, I just upgraded to unlimited Verizon so will start renting a lot of movies.

 

[400]

Been interested to see what the package will be before I get my first Apple TV.
Around £15. Of course pricing is never a direct conversion like that. A few more quid and I get the bluray (around £20 in the UK for a top title).

 

[teamgibbs]

While I understand the "Technical" difference, I do not understand the difference in price.

Watching the same movie in the theater, living room or on my iPad does not change the movie itself therefore the value should not change.

This is greed pure and simple.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Just like when DVD hit the market and the option was VHS or DVD. And then a bump up for HD-DVD or BluRay when that happened.

 

[Wowereit]

Kudos and thanks to Apple for thinking about their customers Apple is the best company and brand in the planet.

The thing is that everybody would benefit from lower pricing, even the studios themselves.
Studios would sell more movies, Apple would get more money, customers would pay less, but there would be more customers in total.

When I think about how many people I know that would pay 30 for a digital copy (or even a physical one) of a movie... I'm not even sure that I'd need both hands to count.

 

[ck2875]

The only reason they can charge money at all is because their films are protected by copyright. IMHO, pricing should reflect that you're accessing their copyrighted material and not reflect the resolution of your TV. That is, 480p, 1080p, and 2160p (4k) should cost the same.

There is some difference in cost in terms of infrastructure, i.e., storage, bandwidth. Do I think there should be a radical price difference? No, but there is _some_ business consideration for providing 4K in addition to HD and SD.

But that's somewhat going towards my point, which I suppose I wasn't really clear on after rereading what I typed. IMO, the movie studios should be licensing their content to Apple at a certain price. It should be up to Apple to determine how much extra they need to charge for the cost of hosting/storage/bandwidth. The cost of the license for the copyrighted content itself should be up to the studio, but that licensing cost (to Apple) should be the same regardless of resolution. The cost of hosting / delivering it should be up to the provider (Apple, Google, Amazon, etc). If Apple says they can provide a 4k movie stream to the consumer without incurring extra costs / burden on their infrastructure by using their HEVC x265 codec, it shouldn't really cost more to the end consumer just because it's a higher resolution.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

$20 for a 4K permanent copy in my library? Sign me up. That's cheaper than a physical copy.

 

[mattopotamus]

I'm shopping in the wrong place! Where do you get them?

I preorder quite a few from Bestbuy. Recent ones I got for under $30:

Steelbook Alien Convenant: $24
Steelbook Logan: $26
John Wick 2: $25

A lot of the movies that are not new releases, but re-released on 4K blu-ray are between $17.99 - $24.99.

I buy the phsyical media and redeem the code. I wish VUDU would start doing the early release digital movies that ship the 4K blu-ray when available. They do that for standard blu-rays.

 

[dogslobber]

Will a 4K compressed lossy movie look better on my 1080P LCD than a traditional blueray DVD?

 

[ThunderSkunk]

$20/mo for unlimited 4K content, maybe. $20 for single title, no chance.

 

[D.T.]

But that's somewhat going towards my point, which I suppose I wasn't really clear on after rereading what I typed. IMO, the movie studios should be licensing their content to Apple at a certain price. It should be up to Apple to determine how much extra they need to charge for the cost of hosting/storage/bandwidth. The cost of the license for the copyrighted content itself should be up to the studio, but that licensing cost (to Apple) should be the same regardless of resolution. The cost of hosting / delivering it should be up to the provider (Apple, Google, Amazon, etc). If Apple says they can provide a 4k movie steam to the consumer without incurring extra costs / burden on their infrastructure by using their HEVC x265 codec, it shouldn't really cost more to the end consumer just because it's a higher resolution.

Ahh, excellent follow up and clarification.

 

[HadrianMQ]

Sounds like they want me to re-buy everything I already own - gross. There better be an upgrade price for the my existing content. I went legit with iTunes to avoid there-buy problem of physical media, but don't think for a minute I've forgotten how to torrent.

 

[Gasu E.]

20$ for a movie!? Jeez. Nope

That's what DVDs cost when they first came out. Or more, in many cases.

 

[davebarnes]

Given that my wife and I go to the movie theatre and sit in huge reclining chairs and watch a giant screen for $6/person, why would I spend $20-$30 to watch on a small screen?

 

[iMi]

I have a large collection of movies. I would hope Apple would upgrade them to 4K automatically. I will not pay again for the same content, so hopefully they take after Microsoft here. Xbox One X will support native 4K gaming and games are being patched for free, as they should.

 

[mattopotamus]

Will a 4K compressed lossy movie look better on my 1080P LCD than a traditional blueray DVD?

4K streaming and streaming in general has come a long way. The biggest problems are dark scenes. Compression will rear its head and drive you nuts if you care about picture quality. Even 1080P streaming looks good. For example, I was watching GoT and was really impressed with the quality until the night scenes hit. Totally took me out of the experience.