At the end of June, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimated that Apple TV+ has between 20 million and 40 million paying subscribers, generating between $1 billion and $2 billion of revenue per year. The Motley Fool’s Adam Levy on Tuesday wonders, “Will Apple TV+ ever become profitable?”
Adam Levy for The Motley Fool:
[Apple TV+’s] subscriber satisfaction is improving. The percentage of subscribers likely to keep their subscription improved to 73% from 54% a year ago.
As the service matures, Apple will learn what draws in and keeps subscribers, and as the company aligns content spending with subscription revenue, Apple TV+ should move toward break-even profitability.
The real value of Apple TV+, Sacconaghi argues, is in the potential for it to be part of a bundle of Apple subscriptions. Apple already bundles Apple TV+ with Apple One, which also includes Apple Music, Arcade, News, and more Apple services. But the streaming video service could be used to get people to subscribe to an iPhone and commit to periodic upgrades on their devices.
Indeed, access to some top critically acclaimed series and films on streaming may be an effective sweetener for customers considering an Apple subscription offering, even if they wouldn’t consider the service by itself. That could, in turn, fuel Apple to spend more on content for Apple TV+, creating a virtuous cycle.
MacDailyNews Take: In short, Apple doesn’t really care about the profitability of Apple TV+ by itself. Apple TV+ is (an important) part of the Apple ecosystem value proposition. Like Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ another component of Apple One that attracts subscribers and helps – especially via multiple excellent series – to retain them.
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It’s definitely getting better. Though I will never understand what appeals to anyone about Ted Lasso other than the fact that millennials finally discovered FIFA many, many decades after everyone else, Apple has had a couple of shows this year I have really enjoyed. I suppose anything is possible.
apple tv is hitting critical mass.
I never used to even check it, but now when I’m looking for something to watch, it’s the first place I go.
Been debating if to drop our subscription now that it is no longer free.
What we find frustrating about Apple TV is that it is a PITA to find the content we’re paying for, because there’s way too much stuff “in your face” that’s some $15 movie or whatever.
Perhaps its because we’re looking more for movies than for Ted Lasso sitcoms/etc, but when I go to the Apple TV icon on my ATV, I expect it to exclusively have just that {bleeping} content and not ads for everything else piled on.
TL;DR: the UI sucks because it doesn’t let us filter out/hide all of the “extra cost” stuff to see just what we’re paying for.
Well… if you push the AppleTV+ button right next to the Watch Now button you’ll get what you’re asking for.