Apple TV+ Badly Crippled by Netflix

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) released extraordinary results for its most recent quarter. Revenue rose by 16% to $11.5 billion, compared to the same quarter a year ago. Per-share earnings jumped from $4.88 to $7.19. Guidance for the current quarter was higher than the consensus. Several of its shows had over 100 million hours of views. The company said the growth of its advertising business was strong.

Netflix does not release subscriber data, but the consensus is that it has close to 325 million paid subscribers worldwide. That puts it well above Amazon Prime Video, which is estimated to be 225 million. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) does not release subscriber figures either. Prime Video is not just a streaming service. As part of Prime membership, it helps glue Amazon customers to its highly profitable Prime service, which includes free shipping and other services.

There are several streaming services in the tier below Netflix and Prime Video. Third place is generally acknowledged to be Disney+ at 126 million, followed by HBO Max, which has about 120 million.

The third tier includes Paramount+ at 74 million and Hulu at 51 million.

Below this tier are services like Peacock, with 36 million subscribers, and Apple TV+, which has between 30 and 40 million. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) does not release subscriber numbers either.

Apple Streaming

Apple does not seem in a rush to make money on its streaming service. Variety reports that Apple TV+ lost $1 billion last year, and that Apple spends as much as $5 billion a year for content. A quick look at Apple TV+ reveals that its content library is not as large as those of its competitors.

Apple TV+ may not exist to make money. Apple has more and more services to keep its hardware owners loyal to its products. It also has 2.35 billion product owners around the world. These include people with Macs, iPads, iPhones, and iPods. In its most recently reported quarter, its Services division had revenue of $26.6 billion, compared to total company revenue of $95.6 billion.

Apple will likely be the streaming industry loser, perhaps for years. Netflix handily beats it every quarter. However, Apple management may not care much.

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