Apple TV+ is a tortoise strategy

Far wealthier in real cash terms than its tech or legacy competitors, Apple’s TV strategy, which has eschewed the acquisition of existing content in favour of developing a curated slate of high quality content, should be seen in the context of building added value to the less frequent buyers of its products, according to a new analysis.

Why it matters

Given the scale and prestige of the brand, Apple can afford to play the long game with its Apple TV+ streaming service. Strengthening the bundle of services that make up the Apple One bundle – including TV+, Music, Arcade, iCloud+, News+, and Fitness+ – contributes to pushing the iPhone maker’s services business in the direction of $20 billion per quarter. This stands in sharp contrast to the content arms race that has come to characterise the streaming wars.

What’s going on

• Apple TV+ is a strange beast that enjoys an install base of 1.6 billion devices, a cool billion of which are iPhones.
• Despite a slate of award-winning hit shows, estimates suggest that the service has an uncommonly high churn rate versus the competition.

A different game

A new analysis by Observer suggests Apple TV+ needs to be understood as the software flipside of Amazon’s Fire TV hardware product: with high device penetration and availability across Roku, Amazon, Google, and Sony devices, it is there to both add value to existing users, strengthening a data set that will inform future development.

• Hit shows like Ted Lasso might generate chatter, but doubts remain as to whether they keep customers coming back – a necessity that drives competitors to acquire catalogues of existing material that are proven hits.
• Growth now is to be found in its services division as people expect their iPhones to last them longer than 12 months. The bet now is on the strength of a total ecosystem based, in part, on unmissable TV.

Sourced from Observer, The Verge, [Image: Apple]