With Apple likely to hold an event on March 25, here’s what the company could be planning for its new video and news streaming services.
It looks as though Apple will hold a special event next month unlike any it’s held in recent memory, according to multiple reports. At the center of the stage won’t be new Mac, iPhone, or iPad hardware, but a new collection of subscription services.
This rumored March 25 event has probably been inevitable for a few years now, ever since Apple called out the importance of services revenue to its corporate growth. The most reliable source of growth at Apple the last few years has been in services, powered largely by the App Store, along with Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud.
With its new services, Apple is planning on using its stature in the tech world, the size of its customer base, and its staggering cash flow to insert itself in markets that are undergoing rapid transformations. And while Apple’s not going to beat Netflix or Amazon Prime overnight, Tim Cook could always unveil a bundle that ties together video, music, news and more that could further shake things up..
The rise of streaming services like Netflix and over-the-top TV services like YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue, and DirecTV Now suggest that we are in the midst of a shift from traditional cable and satellite TV to a world where all our video entertainment is streamed over the Internet. (I’d use the phrase “cord cutters” here, but if your house gets Internet from something other than a wireless connection, there’s still a cord involved.)
Tim Cook told financial analysts last month that “the breakdown of the cable bundle… [will] likely take place at a much faster pace this year.” Apple’s plan is to take advantage of that in two ways: by creating its own content and by reselling premium channels offered by others.
MORE: Apple’s Video Streaming Service Rumors: What We Expect
It will be hard for a lot of people to conceive of Apple as a streaming service, but the same was true of Netflix and Amazon at one time. The fact is, Apple’s reportedly spent $1 billion or more on TV series and movies over the last year and a half, and next month we are going to get an idea of the scope of its programming plans.
