Apple Charts Big Plans For Apple TV+, Including Taking On Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime

Apple Inc AAPL, which possesses disruptive potential in any sector it moves into, is making a big push into the streaming sector.

Apple plans to increase the number of new TV shows and movies to at least one a week on its Apple TV+ streaming service, the Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company is also reportedly planning to increase its marketing spend on Apple TV+ to more than $500 million in 2021.

Apple is planning to set aside some of the budget to bring a dedicated Apple TV+ button to remotes from other manufacturers, similar to its arrangement with Roku, Inc. ROKU, the report said.

Cupertino launched Apple TV+, an ad-free subscription video-on-demand streaming service, in November 2019. The content of the service can be viewed through the company's website as well as through the Apple TV+ app.

Apple TV+ subscriptions at the end of 2020 were around 40 million, the report said. About half of them were paying subscribers, while the others were on some sort of free trials, the report added.

The company had also considered introducing a low-cost Apple TV+  hardware dongle accessory but had eventually decided against it.

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Why It's Important: Apple's competitive positioning in streaming is not very attractive.

Walt Disney Co.'s DIS Disney+, which was launched around the same time as Apple TV+, had about 116 million subscribers as of July 3.

Streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX had 209 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter. Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN Prime subscriptions, which also include access to the e-commerce giant's Prime Video streaming service, hit 200 million globally in April.

Apple has priced its Apple TV+ competitively to the established players in the industry. An Apple TV+ subscription comes free of cost for seven days and then goes up to $4.99 per month. Alternatively, a subscriber buying an eligible Apple device gets three months of free viewing.

Netflix's basic plan is priced at $8.99 per month and Disney Plus comes for $7.99 a month, or $79.99 for a year's service.

As Apple trails the rest in the streaming industry, the speculated moves make sense in order for Cupertino to stay alive and thriving.

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Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash