Deals Already in Place for Apple to Launch Netflix Competitor?

[jlasoon]

This had better be under $10 or it will not be a competitor.

Unfortunately this is the kind of crap post that's turning this forum into a crapshoot.

What if Apple offers 10 times the content of Netflix? would you not pay more? Shouldn't you expect to pay more? $75B in the bank gets you better content, guaranteed.

Netflix becomes irrelevant as soon as Apple starts dangling $$$$$billions$$$$$$ in front of movie and TV executives.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I'm quite sick of Netflix, so I'm eagerly awaiting this announcement. The best selection of movies is only available on DVD, which you have to send back and forth through mail. Streaming is the future, and the future is now. I hope Apple gets this right and offers a large selection of instant streaming movies and shows, unlike Netflix. I'd subscribe and buy an AppleTV immediately.

 

[samcraig]

Unfortunately this is the kind of crap post that's turning this forum into a crapshoot.

What if Apple offers 10 times the content of Netflix? would you not pay more? Shouldn't you expect to pay more? $75B in the bank gets you better content, guaranteed.

Netflix becomes irrelevant as soon as Apple starts dangling $$$$$billions$$$$$$ in front of movie and TV executives.

If. And that's the thing. So your post isn't any more or less a crap post than any other people posting. Who says Apple is interesting in spending "billions." Who says they even need to spend that much. And what their ROI model and roadmap is.

 

[citi]

I'm quite sick of Netflix, so I'm eagerly awaiting this announcement. The best selection of movies is only available on DVD, which you have to send back and forth through mail. Streaming is the future, and the future is now. I hope Apple gets this right and offers a large selection of instant streaming movies and shows, unlike Netflix. I'd subscribe and buy an AppleTV immediately.

I agree that streaming is the future, but I'm not sure the future is now. I still need my Blu-Ray which doesn't offer a streaming alternative. Unless you are agoraphobic, is it really that hard to put it on your mailbox for pickup?

 

[alent1234]

Unfortunately this is the kind of crap post that's turning this forum into a crapshoot.

What if Apple offers 10 times the content of Netflix? would you not pay more? Shouldn't you expect to pay more? $75B in the bank gets you better content, guaranteed.

Netflix becomes irrelevant as soon as Apple starts dangling $$$$$billions$$$$$$ in front of movie and TV executives.

the problem then becomes finding a good ISP for cheap

 

[MacNewsFix]

You're wrong. Completely wrong. First - Netflix was available on the iPad since launch (http://blog.netflix.com/2010/04/netflix-available-on-ipad.html)

Second - the fact that Netflix WAS available on Day 1 influenced many early adopters. And if you deny that - then you're just being ignorant of have some wacky agenda you're trying to perpetuate.

So take you're own advice and get off the drugs

I think you are both partially right and partially wrong. Netflix was available for the iPad at launch. However, according to the latest data from Nielsen, only 3% of Netflix Instant watchers report using an iPad for consumption. Last I checked, nearly 29 million iPads have been sold globally. Netflix, presently only available in the USA and Canada, just reported approximately 22 million subscribers to their streaming service. Meanwhile, about 5.3% of Americans (~16.4 million) have a tablet, with the vast majority being iPads (Android tablets suffer horrendous return rates). Even before bringing in Canadians with iPads, those stats just don't give weight to the argument that Netflix was the driving force in iPad adoption.

Personally, I didn't buy the iPad to watch Netflix, but I do from time-to-time. I also agree with citi that the best UI implementation of Netflix is on the AppleTV (and I have the PS3 and XBOX360). Even detractors of the AppleTV admit its Netflix is the best.

 

[diamond.g]

Unfortunately this is the kind of crap post that's turning this forum into a crapshoot.

What if Apple offers 10 times the content of Netflix? would you not pay more? Shouldn't you expect to pay more? $75B in the bank gets you better content, guaranteed.

Netflix becomes irrelevant as soon as Apple starts dangling $$$$$billions$$$$$$ in front of movie and TV executives.

Sadly, the 7.99 USD is the beginning. Prices will go up more as content owners realize they can get more money for their content. Apple being Apple will probably cause the content owners to try to get more money from them (because they know Apple is a big fish). Which will be why it takes forever for there to be any sort of deal.

 

[samcraig]

I think you are both partially right and partially wrong. Netflix was available for the iPad at launch. However, according to the latest data from Nielsen, only 3% of Netflix Instant watchers report using an iPad for consumption. Last I checked, nearly 29 million iPads have been sold globally. Netflix, presently only available in the USA and Canada, just reported approximately 22 million subscribers to their streaming service. Meanwhile, about 5.3% of Americans (~16.4 million) have a tablet, with the vast majority being iPads (Android tablets suffer horrendous return rates). Even before bringing in Canadians with iPads, those stats just don't give weight to the argument that Netflix was the driving force in iPad adoption.

Personally, I didn't buy the iPad to watch Netflix, but I do from time-to-time. I also agree with citi that the best UI implementation of Netflix is on the AppleTV (and I have the PS3 and XBOX360). Even detractors of the AppleTV admit its Netflix is the best.

Thanks for the research. What that doesn't tell us is how many WERE streaming at the iPad launch. You just have the latest. Minor point perhaps. But also - consider that surveys are generally crap too. For example - one of the driving forces for me to get the iPad on launch day (I was a naysayer up until I was at the store) WAS Netflix streaming. I bought it as a media consumption device.

Now... that was then. Cut to 2-3 months later and I wasn't streaming nearly as much. Cut to this past month and I would say I haven't streamed a thing.

That doesn't mean Netflix wasn't a driving force (for me, for example). Another example would be if you looked at my e-book usage. When I first got the iPad - I used the kindle app quite a bit because the iPad was new. And the fact the iPad HAD a kindle app was a driving force as well. But then after a month that weaned and I use my actual Kindle more to read as I prefer it.

So if you were to survey or chart my usage now on what I use my iPad for the results would be very different than when I first bought it. And I don't think I am alone there...

 

[alent1234]

netflix knows where you are streaming from and which device and they said phones/tablets were a tiny minority. most of us stream for x-box or PS3

 

[AppleScruff1]

1. give me one good reason outside of personal hate toward apple, and style preferences... that you feel that investing(as a consumer) in apple is a bad idea?

2. i think that trolls have adopted a notion that "anything dominant is bad"... so if cheerios is the popular brand of cereal, we should reject it and buy off-brand "wheat hoops"... to show that we're not sheep..

in the end, apple has control of the 3rd party peripheral markets(around their devices), dominant control on phone, tablet, mp3 player and digital media distribution... and now cloud is a high priority...and all of their functionality is 1st party developed outside of appstore apps

sure if you're an apple customer, you're paying a bit more than the non-apple customers, but thats a choice we all make.. we're not forced to make it

you gotta admit that if you look elsewhere, you're going to have huge voids.. but maybe your pride will overcompensate for the inferior customer experience

customers want to stick to one brand on certain things... and because of that, companies have to keep delivering a high/competitive quality of service...LOOK AT BLACKBERRY... the "sheeps" have moved toward android and apple b/c RIM was too complacent over the last decade.. the same would happen to apple if they sat on cruise control..

I don't think investing in Apple products is a bad idea at all. What I think is a bad idea is having to buy everything you use from Apple and not have some of the choices that the mainstream offers. Most users here can't seem to grasp that concept. As I've said, every business on earth dreams of having customers who buy it hook, line and sinker. Appleonians are a unique breed, that's for sure.

This had better be under $10 or it will not be a competitor.

It will be a success if it's $50 a month. The Appleonian apologists will accept it with open arms and brag about how much it costs. Just think of how much it will add to Apple's profit margins.

The way Apple is doing things it will never happen (or not in this century at least).

You see all these services are here to enchance Apple Mac/Mobile experience. For people outside it's not much of a use or no use at all.

As long as Apple marketshare is low it will never happen. Basically Apple needs to reach Nokia dumb phone and microsoft marketshare levels to be monopoly of any kind.

Not going to happen. Sorry.

Apple doesn't want market share to remain low. They are after Joe consumer now.

I can listen to ripped mp3's on my iPod, and read Kindle books on my iPad; so WTFAYTA?

Quite true for now. But what about the future, as each new generation of products becomes more locked down? It is happening now, and it's obvious that the companies plan is to control content completely, not because they are your friend, but because they want all of your money. And most Apple users will happily go along with it. Sad, IMHO. They think they are so different, yet Appleonians are are all the same.

 

[TimUSCA]

Huh? Netflix has been on Apple TV for YEARS. You think that they wouldn't have released the Apple TV with Netflix just because they might (remember there was no guarantee they would have got the agreements) have had a competitor a few years later?

And there is no reason for Apple to remove Netflix either. Like the rest of their content business, this is unlikely to generate much profits for Apple. I bet its largely designed so Apple can tweak such a service to support future products (like a real Apple TV) better.

You're out of your mind. Netflix was just added to the Apple TV with Gen. 2, released September 1, 2010. That's not even one year.

 

[maconservative]

$10 or less for unlimited streaming of comparable Netflix content for all devices on your iTunes account or GTFO.

I would gladly pay more if ANYONE could provide a more robust catalog than Netflix.

 

[rjtyork]

$10 or less for unlimited streaming of comparable Netflix content for all devices on your iTunes account or GTFO.

Hear, hear!

 

[fxtech]

Will this mean that they will remove Netflix from the AppleTV? I hope not.

I wouldn't put it past them.

 

[nelmat]

how much apple TV's do you think they will sell with no netflix?

plenty. It's only available stateside anyway.

 

[scootaru]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8L1)

Everyone is wrong.

The deals with the studios were not to start a streaming service that competes with Netflix. They made deals with the studios so they could stream newly released blockbuster movies for $29.99.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I would gladly pay more if ANYONE could provide a more robust catalog than Netflix.

I set it up for my mother on her Wii and she loves watching old TV Shows on it, but thinks the movie selection absolutely sucks plus half the time something you're looking for shows up, but it's currently "not available". WTF good is a streaming service that takes 2/3 or more of their catalog offline every month??? The whole point of streaming would be to watch what you want when you want it, not when they want to let you watch it and taking it offline makes sure it doesn't really work. I think it sucks, personally.

 

[itsvdiddy]

Seems like they're positioning Apple TV/iTV (future) to be the new iPod-like revenue generator. The ability for Apple to sell a product (AppleTV/iOS devices) in conjunction with a service (Netflix-competitor) will definitely give them an edge on profitability because of hardware sales and overall halo effect again.

I would much rather use one service to allow me to stream/rent/download movies/shows as soon as they are out on demand, as opposed to only streaming limited movie selection 28 days after they are available.

Whenever Apple TV, iOS, and Macs/Laptops all share the same OS with apps, etc, it's going to be hard to compete with that ubiquity.

 

[GregAndonian]

Or Apple could buy them and turn it into iFlix. 13.5B is chump change for Apple.

Goodbye Blu-rays in red envelopes...

 

[Chicagomac08]

how much apple TV's do you think they will sell with no netflix?

Plenty if you can find a comparable service. I have netflix but will drop them in a second since I think Apple could do much better.

 

[BTW]

I plan on canceling Netflix. It would be nice if Apple could trump Netflix on content and match the streaming subscription prices.

 

[rumplestiltskin]

unless the law changed, apple will have to get permission from every city to do this and that means building yarn museums, being regulated by the PUC and all other kinds of ROI sucking rules

Here in Texas, the law applies to cable, not other methods. (AT&T didn't have to get individual community approval for this; the state effectively cut the legs out from under TimeWarner when they tried to argue that AT&T should have to be subject to the same rules.)

 

[bokdol]

the way i see it is if apple wants to run icloud with movies the way they are doing it with tv and music. it will be a buy music and watch it anywhere kind of thing. not necessarily a full service like netflix. you buy your movie and watch it anywhere kind of thing. with a a price increase for uploading your dvd info into your cloud for access anywhere. like they do the music. apples rental catalog is kinda huge. so i dont see them changing it to a netflixs service. but i do see it as buy movies and watch on any where you want kinda thing more like amazon. apple wants you to own movies not subscribe to them.

 

[marksman]

Of course that will be the end of Netflix on Apple tv, they don't want any competition for your money.



But think about it, it does make sense. Apple wants 100% control over what is sold for their devices. They want a 100% closed, Apple owned and operated system. They want all of your money, not just some of it. And that is what their goal is and they are quickly moving in that direction. They will offer many service for a monthly or yearly fee. All software will be purchased thru the App store, etc, etc.



As many as they do now, maybe more. The Apple consumer is brainwashed to accept anything the company does, because they make pretty things and they just work. If it was any other company, the fanboys would have their panties in a bunch over this.

You insult people here with every single post you make and then act like it is the people here who are out of line or have a problem.

Is there any chance you can just go away?

 

[gnomeisland]

with a a price increase for uploading your dvd info into your cloud for access anywhere. like they do the music.

I was going to point out that technically ripping DVDs may be illegal (as ridiculous as that is) for home use but after thinking about it a little more perhaps you wouldn't have to rip the thing and that's the point. You just insert the DVD, Apple figures out what it is, and adds that movie to your iCloud catalogue. I still think it is more likely they'll stream only past purchases or ala carte but that would be an intriguing possibility.