Apple TV sacrificed in favor of Apple's future video service? | iGeneration

Apple managed to be the center of attention at CES 2019 without stepping foot in it. It must be said that Samsung, which announces the support of Apple services until then jealously guarded, is unprecedented. An announcement that was then repeated three times.

AirPlay video will soon no longer be exclusive to Apple TV. If you buy a new Samsung, LG, Sony or Vizio TV this year (or own a recent model, depending on the manufacturer), you can stream videos to it directly from your Mac or iOS device. Never seen.

Until now, Apple only allowed third-party manufacturers to integrate AirPlay audio. There are a few devices other than Apple TV that are compatible with AirPlay video, notably the Freebox, but in all cases these are unofficial solutions, based on reverse engineering, with the risk of instability. what it represents.

In addition, the iTunes catalog will be available on Samsung televisions and you can control LG, Sony and Vizio models from your iPhone using HomeKit.

Why is Apple suddenly opening up its in-house tech to major TV makers? For its future video-on-demand service.

Since the results alert published on January 2 against the backdrop of a slowdown in iPhone sales, Tim Cook has insisted more than ever on this point: the services, which are "rocking", will occupy an increasingly significant place in the figure. company business.

In the third quarter of 2018, service revenues grew by 17% year-on-year, to almost $10 billion. The iPhone brought in $37.1 billion (+29%), but the number of units sold was flat (+0.45%).

Apple can hope to grow the services business by converting more and more users to Apple Music, Apple Pay, subscriptions and iCloud storage. However, as we have seen, iPhone sales are running out of steam. Add to that Netflix and Amazon Prime Video growing at the expense of iTunes, and the need for a subscription video service is critical.

Since 2017, Apple has garnered dozens of projects to be able to offer the exclusive programs essential to its attractiveness on its future platform. Oprah Winfrey, M. Night Shyamalan, Damien Chazelle, Jennifer Aniston… Apple has already secured the services of several famous names, but its catalog still needs to be widely accessible in living rooms.

This is where there is a catch. As nice as it is, the Apple TV remains marginal year after year – who said a "hobby"? In the United States, in the fleet of streaming devices, its market share was 15% at the start of 2018, four points less than in the same period a year earlier.

Can you imagine subscribing to "Apple Video", let's call it that, if you can't enjoy it on your TV? Hence the need for Apple to forge partnerships with television manufacturers.

AirPlay compatibility may just be the first step. Won't the iTunes app on Samsung TVs magically turn into Apple Video once the service launches? Will Apple push its service to make it compatible with Chromecast or allow AirPlay on more devices?

This opening, strategically logical from the point of view of services, raises many questions. One wonders if this extension of AirPlay will not cause complications in terms of compatibility, as is the case on Android TV.

To ensure that their content is well protected, the rights holders ask the various video services to have them validate each Android device, otherwise they are not entitled to broadcast on it in 4K or 1080p. It is for this reason that Netflix does not work in Full HD, if at all, on some entry-level Android TV boxes.

We will have to see if Apple has taken the lead to avoid similar fragmentation with AirPlay on third-party televisions. Otherwise, we risk ending up with two-speed AirPlay compatibility for videos from the most popular streaming services.

Another question concerns the future of Apple TV. Future televisions from Apple's partners risk overshadowing it. Why buy the box if your TV has its main functions?

The list of advantages remaining with Apple TV is not long: a good user experience (but a divisive remote control), the role of HomeKit hub (this does not seem to be the case with future TVs), and an application ecosystem richer and better maintained.

However, Samsung's connected TVs are not badly off in this regard. They have the essential apps: Netflix, Molotov, myCanal, Amazon Prime Video, OCS, RMC Sport, beIN Sports (not available on tvOS), MyTF1 and YouTube… in 4K, which is not the case on Apple TV 4K.

If we still had to blacken the picture of the Apple TV, there is this rumor that appeared at the end of last year of an HDMI dongle. The firm would consider making a home Chromecast, which would therefore add AirPlay compatibility to any television for a low price.

Despite everything, the Apple TV is not necessarily doomed. It could continue on its way as a niche product, which it has always been, or as a kind of reference platform. It would be more than a shame to throw the mature platform that tvOS has become into the trash.

The HomePod is in a pretty similar situation. Apple Music's compatibility with Alexa could divert some of the service's users from buying an Apple speaker. But it remains relevant by its incomparable audio quality with Echo devices – which are currently the only ones to support Apple Music.

This is the problem that will arise for Apple in the months and years to come: not to sacrifice its products on the altar of the democratization of its services. An entire program.