The iPhone manufacturer’s streaming service is far behind Disney + or Netflix.
Apple may be one of the most powerful Gafa, it remains a dwarf in video streaming. According to the IATSE union, which represents intermittents in the film and television industry, its streaming service Apple TV + had less than 20 million subscribers in the United States and Canada as of July 1. And this, while most video on demand platforms have greatly benefited from the pandemic and the containment measures.
Apple reportedly gave this figure to the union to explain the lower compensation paid to production teams than those paid by larger streaming services. Indeed, an agreement, signed in 2009 by companies in the sector, provided for reduced hourly rates for streaming services with less than 20 million subscribers. At the time, it was about helping the new industry to take off. In a press release, the IATSE indicates that it has opened renegotiations of these contracts. And strikes are also planned to protest against the too low wages. “On some new media projects, workers are paid less, even on productions with budgets equal to or greater than those of blockbusters slated for theatrical release.», Notes the IATSE.
The figure of 20 million subscribers in North America seems very meager compared to that of Disney +, for example. According to The Information, at the start of the summer, Mickey’s platform had 38 million subscribers across the Atlantic. The double of AppleTV +, while the two streaming services were launched, a few days apart, in November 2019 … Globally, Disney + totaled 116 million subscribers. As for the industry veteran Netflix, it has some 74 million subscribers in the United States and nearly 210 million in total.
Apple never disclosed how many users had subscribed to its online video platform. But it is one of the many services offered by the technology giant to strengthen the appeal of its ecosystem of electronic devices, ranging from laptops to the iPhone through connected accessories.
When presenting the group’s quarterly results at the end of July, Tim Cook, its CEO, indicated that Apple now had 700 million paying subscribers to at least one of its services such as Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness + … In other words, AppleTV + is still far from being a locomotive when it comes to revenue generated by paid services. In the second quarter, they had brought in $ 17.4 billion. For Apple, they are now the second largest source of revenue for the company, after iPhone sales.
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