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As much as I like iTunes, it sucks that you cannot just stream your movies to your mobile devices, and you cannot stream movies over cellular too. While most Apple users are only having 16GB how in the world you're going to fit those movies. Some of us already ditched our home internet and no way I can watch any of my movies if they're not available on my computer. AppleTV cannot even store those movie. This is really a good excuse not to deal with Apple services sometimes.

You can stream iTunes Movies to mobile devices and, if you flip the switch in the TV app settings, you can stream over cellular too.
 
Oh gosh yes they need to improve their video service. It's dreadful as it stands.
 
Who cares? There are obvious explanations -- explosion of streaming boxes, few of which have iTunes on there, Netflix, HBO, etc. Throw in the fact that Google, Amazon, Apple all make very little money acting as a middle man distributing these things. Also throw in Amazon Prime going onto the Apple TV this summer, and that number is going to fall even further. I'm sure Apple isn't losing its sleep over it.

Apple does want its base to use the Apple TV to keep them in the ecosystem, but the iTunes movie rental/purchase store is not a major draw for most people. It's not going anywhere, but it's hardly a major profit center. Now, producing a 4k Apple TV is a must, which I'm sure will be released soon.
 
I think most ppl are like me. They don’t buy, they subscribe and stream. You guys are right. They are too expensive, and are proprietary. They need a movie streaming service, with the option to buy stuff like Amazon. And they need to be on multiple platforms.
 
I would guess that Apple has a modern digital video content strategy up its sleeve, to update its approach to compete better with services like Amazon and Netflix. It would be the video version of Apple Music, and perhaps be built right into Apple Music.

It's just complicated to negotiate the terms with studios. And Apple is clearly also in the process of producing their own shows and movies as well.

You are kidding, right? By their actions, or more pointedly lack there of, Apple has demonstrated they have zero credibility when it comes to strategy in the TV and video space; and, what is even more concerning, they simply do not care. It's a hobby.
 
3 reasons I seldom buy from Apple anymore:

  1. I don't own it, although I pay the same price as buying the DVD/BluRay.
  2. iTunes assumes that you want to stream the movie. I have marginal download speeds, so streaming usually isn't the best option. I can afford to spend hours downloading a movie to my hard drive overnight and watch it from my hard drive which is preferable to trying to stream a movie and having it stop and not continue.
  3. The price is frequently higher. I can buy a BluRay disc/electronic copy cheaper than iTunes electronic copy only.
Edit- changed hat to hard (hard drive).
 
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Until Netflix releases new movies when they come out and not 6 months later it will never be killed off.
They already do this with their own movies. Most recently Okja. They also have the streaming contract for every new Marvel, Disney, and Lucasfilm movie. Netflix is doing OK.
 
Most new movies, we only want to watch once - Netflix's disc rental is still the way to go for that. If we decide we'll want to watch again, I then buy the movie on physical media.

I used to buy movies from iTunes occasionally... but, with the death of requiem, it's no longer simple to losslessly remove their drm - and vendor lock-in is a non-starter. So we buy the disc, rip it, then shove the physical media into a box in a closet.
 
iTunes cards are always on sale 10-20% off not hard to find -- so you can't make the argument. Still, if I rent I find myself going though Amazon because I seem to always have a credit there from opting out of 2day shipping. So perhaps Apple's problem is that it's not being competitive in the right area - promotions. Problem is Apple management thinks Apple is too premium to have to go the "loyalty rewards" route like other companies have done to cage in customers. They need to do a big rethink and I don't mean more exclusive series with Gwyenth Paltrow or the hot rapper of the minute... or last decades hot rapper of the minute.
 
I'm lazy. I can't be bothered to find a physical disc and put it in a player, so digital is the only option for me. Price isn't a big factor for me either. I just don't buy enough media for it to matter.
For me the important factors are UI and device compatibility. As an all Apple household, Apple is TERRIBLE at selling TV. It is slow and hard to navigate to the right season and current episode. The UI frequently doesn't show the latest episodes even days after they have been released to Apple. Content providers are slow to get episodes up on iTunes. Episodes are frequently out of order and sometimes even missing. To top it all off, seasons are usually very expensive. Seasons are getting fewer episodes, but are selling at the same price.
That said, I like the Apple TV, but Apple needs to step up their game ASAP.
 
3 reasons I seldom buy from Apple anymore:

  1. I don't own it, although I pay the same price as buying the DVD/BluRay.
  2. iTunes assumes that you want to stream the movie. I have marginal download speeds, so streaming usually isn't the best option. I can afford to spend hours downloading a movie to my hard drive overnight and watch it from my hard drive which is preferable to trying to stream a movie and having it stop and not continue.
You can do exactly that with iTunes movies.

I don't necessarily disagree with what you say on pricing, but many new releases are available for $15 on iTunes and other digital platforms, while newly released Blu-rays are often $20 or more. And for older movies, iTunes has frequent sales for $5-$10.
 
Why rent from iTunes when you can rent from Amazon for less? Or in some cases, stream it for free.

Buying is seldom a bargain either. You can usually get BD/DVD/Digital for the same price. Then I have a copy for the iDevices, one for the house, and one for the car.
 
I find myself purchasing less and less digital content from Apple. I quit buying iTunes tracks, quit renting movies, and no longer buy books from them. Part of it is Apple’s fault, but it is also the restrictions of the digital format.

Compressed audio content sounds lousy on hifi equipment. Worthwhile movies are few and far between. Digital books lack soul.

And then there’s Apple’s premium pricing. Movie rentals went from a high of $4.99 to $6.99 and $8.99. Their digital books are as expensive as printed ones; Amazon’s digital books are usually half the cost.
 
Netflix is a different animal. Sure, it's great to have all those movies and shows for $10/month. But how much on there came out in a theater in the past two years? Netflix ironically has become more of a catalog TV show and original series/movies service.

Well considering they struck a deal with Disney and all of it's properties to stream the movie a month after it comes out on disc, I'd say they're doing pretty well.
 
iTunes cards are always on sale 10-20% off not hard to find -- so you can't make the argument. Still, if I rent I find myself going though Amazon because I seem to always have a credit there from opting out of 2day shipping. So perhaps Apple's problem is that it's not being competitive in the right area - promotions. Problem is Apple management thinks Apple is too premium to have to go the "loyalty rewards" route like other companies have done to cage in customers. They need to do a big rethink and I don't mean more exclusive series with Gwyenth Paltrow or the hot rapper of the minute... or last decades hot rapper of the minute.
You can do the same with Amazon gift cards (gameflip.com)
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Netflix is a different animal. Sure, it's great to have all those movies and shows for $10/month. But how much on there came out in a theater in the past two years? Netflix ironically has become more of a catalog TV show and original series/movies service.
Just watched Lion last night. They also get all the Star Wars movies, Marvel Studios films, and Disney animated and non-animated movies (just watched Moana and will soon watch Beauty and the Beast). Combined with Netflix's own huge library of movies and shows, it's pretty much unbeatable. Amazon comes close in the original films department. Apple is trying, but their attempts are just sad - Planet of the Apps? Yeesh.
 
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In addition to other great points made here (ubiquity of Netflix & Amazon clients; the high cost of renting vs disk ownership; uncompetitiveness of the iTunes market; restriction of iTunes to Apple devices save Windows; DRM; iTunes interface being a dumpster fire), the pricing on the current generation of Apple TV itself is too high. If the money in Apple TVs is in selling or renting apps, music, movies and TV shows, they should be selling the boxes nearer to cost to increase market share.

I may know one person who has an ATV G4, whereas I know many more who have G3 or earlier. Now it may be too late, at least for this generation.

It's such a cliché, but Steve Jobs would never have allowed this, even if he didn't change anything else about Apple TV. (Perhaps the only other thing Steve could have done is work his magic on TV executives to get proper cable equivalent packages.) Tim Cook's a wee bit greedy as far as pricing goes, and it's been short-sighted on this product line.
 
It's quite a shame the industry hasn't quite evolved to a digital form of purchases that's nearly as portable between services as discs.

This already exists. It's call "Ultraviolet" and is nothing more than a top-level DRM Management service. Once you 'own' the title, you can play it back on devices using a couple of different front ends... although Vudu is clearly the market leader and others are quickly bailing. Wouldn't it be great if Apple merged their back-end with Ultraviolet? Then you could buy from whomever you wanted - including physical media, Vudu *or* iTunes - and have access to your library from virtually every device made!
 
1) all year long you can buy the $40 iTunes card for $36 at any Walmart
2) on black Friday you can stock up on iTunes cards discounted 20%-30% (last year Walgreens had the best deal, 33%!)
3) every week iTunes has a rental discounted at $0.99, this week: Jack Reacher never go back. See www.99rental.com
 
article does not state how VUDU is doing. I would assume about the same sales?
 
I’ve been buying a lot of the $5 specials and even some of the $10 sales for recent release movies I enjoyed that don’t have a iTunes compatible digital copy with the Blu-ray Disc. I love streaming movies through my Apple TV and hate having to use disc media.
 
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