Apple Inc. AAPL answered a question a lot of TV cord-cutters have been asking — "How much will Apple TV+ cost?" — and surprised many people with the answer.
It's $4.99 a month.
"This is crazy," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Less than a cost of a single movie rental!"
A lot of industry observers agreed, with several analysts on Wednesday expressing surprise at just how cheap the new service will be.
Here's a comparison of the prices of some of the big streaming services.
Apple TV+
Cost: $4.99 a month.
Available: Nov. 1.
The Deal: If you buy another Apple product, like a new iPhone, you can get it for free for a year. The company's content library, however, at least for now, is smaller than competitors.
Disney+
Cost: $6.99 a month.
Available: Nov. 12
The Deal: Walt Disney Company's DIS streaming service has a huge content library to offer streamers, including the Disney and Marvel Studios catalogues, the 20th Century Fox archives and the Star Wars franchise. Another deal: Disney+ and two other Disney streaming services, ESPN+ and Hulu, will be bundled for $12.99.
Hulu
Cost: Disney's Hulu has a basic version that costs $5.99 a month, and a premium service without ads for $11.99 a month. Adding 60 channels of live TV adds $39 a month to the cost.
Available: Now.
The Deal: Hulu is one of the most popular streaming services. It has a strong library, but also has add-ons for additional costs, for customers who want to add additional channels like HBO, or options like being able to use it on unlimited screens.
Netflix
Cost: $12.99 a month.
Available: Now
The Deal: You can get a cheaper Netflix Inc. NFLX subscription, for $8.99, but its standard definition, which almost no one watches anymore. Netflix has a lot of loyal subscribers because of some of its original content.
Amazon Prime
Cost: Amazon Prime costs $99 a year, which works out to a little over $8 a month.
Available: Now
The Deal: A lot of people get Amazon.com Inc. AMZN's Amazon Prime for the free shipping on items ordered from Amazon, and the streaming service is a bonus.
What The Street Says
"The pricing of Apple’s streaming TV service at $4.99 per month is a 'show stopper' and a major shot across the bow at the likes of Netflix and Disney among others," said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.
Credit Suisse analyst Douglas Mitchelson said Netflix doesn't need to worry about the cheaper entrant, though.
"Netflix’s 10-year head start, scale, breadth of content and customer engagement is unlikely to be dented by an Apple TV+ subscription service with a relatively light content slate and no library content," Mitchelson wrote in a note.
Related Links:
Analyst: Comparing Apple TV+ With Netflix Isn't Fair
Media Exec: Disney Has 'Awful Lot To Work With' But Netflix Is 'Formidable'
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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