“Shares of Netflix remain within a few percentage points of their all-time high. The video-rental firm has had quite a run, with its shares up more than 150% in the past 12 months and nearly 1,000% in the past three years. Even lackluster forward guidance issued on the evening of Monday, April 25, only put a modest dent in this highflying stock. But behind the scenes, a major problem looms. And that problem’s name is Apple,” David Sterman writes for StreetAuthority.
“Any day now, Apple is expected to announce the formal opening of a massive new data center in Maiden, N.C. This center has been ready to go for several months, with its opening possibly delayed by plans to start building an identical data center right next door. Why should investors care? Once these buildings are open for business, the entire Apple business model will see a complete overhaul. And Netflix may be in the company’s sights,” Sterman writes. “For that matter, a raft of other technology firms could see a completely altered competitive landscape as well.”
Sterman writes, “It’s not just Netflix and Sirius that should be worried. An increasing number of consumers are tiring of expensive cable bills that deliver many channels they’ll never watch. A la carte access to specific channels could be part of Apple’s master plan as well. With 500,000 square feet of data center space about to come on line, Apple will have ample capacity to deliver such specialized video delivery services. When a second identical facility opens for business down the road, Apple can move even deeper into this niche. By then, cable firms such as Time Warner Cable may also have plenty to fear.”
Much more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Carl H.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple’s final frontier: The living room – April 13, 2011
Apple updates Apple TV with live MLB, NBA streaming, Netflix, Dolby Digital 5.1, and more – March 9, 2011
Cringley: Apple will buy Time Warner Cable in 2011 – January 7, 2011
I see apps replacing TV stations. Apple take a cut, but give the content providers more freedom than the music labels get in iTunes by using an app model. Of course these TV apps will differ from the iOS apps we know now, with system wide services that allow you to create a TV schedule from content across various apps and perhaps “record” shows in the cloud. I can’t wait to see what Apple come up with, but I think Netflix and others will continue as channel apps.
I have serious doubts that a pay-per-view model will ever win out. People want predictability. They don’t want surprises when they open their bill and see that their kids watched 300 episodes of Spongebob, and now they’re stuck with a $300 bill. Eventually, we’ll see a subscription based service win. If this is what Apple has planned, I’m all over it. Even better would be a ala-carte network model. Pick the networks you want at $X per month each. This might weed out some of the lower end programming that no one would subscribe to.
Will Apple also provide Internet access? Then we can totally sat bye to the cable companies. Then offer cell service also…
“An increasing number of consumers are tiring of expensive cable bills that deliver many channels they’ll never watch.”
Truer words have never been spoken. Liberals have to pay for Faux News & CNBC (Conservative NutBall Channel) and Teabaggers MSNBC. We all have to pay for the no history History Channel the no Arts or Entertainment A&E channel, the no travel Travel Channel and the no music “music” channels from MTV.
What bullshit.
“A la carte access to specific channels could be part of Apple’s master plan….”
EXACTLY what consumers have been SCREAMING FOR over the past DECADE. About frickin’ time.
“cable firms such as Time Warner Cable may also have plenty to fear.””
LOVE IT.
The problem of course is that Time Warner is also an ISP, one of the many who would enjoy destroying Net Neutrality so they can filter Internet bandwidth in their favor, blocking out competitors.
Cool! Author the best! Thank you!