Every time Apple announces something new, there’s always forecasts that it will fail. Now the Strategy Analytics research group says the Apple TV app and Apple TV+ SVOD service, coming this fall, “may not give the giant from Cupertino the momentum that it is looking for.”
The tech giant is looking to service revenue to offset weak hardware sales in China, a saturated global smartphone market and the limitations associated with Apple TV, according to Michael Goodman of Strategy Analytics.
“As part of Apple’s strategy to increase service revenue, Apple is taking aim at the $280 billion global TV and video market, which includes pay TV, SVOD, and physical and digital rental and sell-thru of movies and TV shows,” he says. “There’s good news and bad news for Apple.”
In the positive column, the next-gen Apple TV App offers significant advantages for the company: an opportunity to expand beyond Apple devices; and the option to cash in on content with Apple Channels and Apple TV+.
Goodman says that, however, while the Apple TV+ SVOD will offer an exclusive home for its originals, it faces big headwinds in the form of Apple’s limited investment in original programming compared to others and a small catalogue; a glut of original programming on competing services; an uneasy relationship with studios and programmers; subscription fatigue on the part of consumers; and the potential for brand confusion.
“There are a number of issues it must overcome if they hope to succeed,” Goodman says.
