Via The Information, Apple is apparently considering combining its upcoming magazine service and original content television, with its existing music subscription, into a single ‘Amazon Prime’-esque subscription. Pricing for this bundle is not clear, right now Apple offers Apple Music for $9.99 per month.
The report says Apple will allow customers to subscribe to each service separately, perhaps there is a cost saving in subscribing to the all-encompassing package compared to paying for each individually however.
Echoing a timeline previously reported by Bloomberg, The Information says the company wants to a launch an Apple branded news subscription service in 2019. The company acquired Texture in March of this year, a $9.99/mo subscription service that unlocked access to more than 200 premium magazines.
The timeline for Apple’s original content TV efforts is still murky, but there are some hints that the first shows will be ready to air later next year. TV show production is often prone to delays and setbacks, but Apple has enough shows in the wings at the moment that it should still have a healthy offering even if only half of the orders are ready in 2019.
Selling all three media types as a single subscription helps to paper over any initial weakness in the TV side. Over time, a standalone Apple TV subscription would make more sense as Apple continues to flesh out its catalog. It could attract early buy-in from customers by discounting original television subscription if the user already pays for Apple Music, for instance.
Unlike music and news, Apple has much more flexibility in what it prices access to its original TV as there are no ongoing royalty costs.
Plans to create a bumper all-in-one media subscription will likely help Apple forge a new course of revenue growth in the coming years. Investors are anxious to see if the company can convince its millions of iPhone owners to purchase recurring content subscriptions.
In a rare move, Apple announced a public business target to double Services revenue by 2020. Whilst Apple Music is a growing business, crossing 40 million subscribers in April, the Services division revenue is currently dominated by its 30% App Store commissions.
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