The TV application perceived as a “Netflix killer” within Apple | iGeneration

The video offensive that Apple will lead during the special event on Monday will revolve around the TV application, internally renamed the "Netflix killer". At least that's what the Wall Street Journal has heard in a long article that details a good part of the announcements expected for tomorrow.

If Apple is talking about Netflix, the economic model of this new service will be much closer to that of Amazon Channels: the user will be able to subscribe to services like Showtime, HBO or even Starz for $9.99 per month for each channel (read: For its video service, Apple would mainly sell subscriptions to other video services).

As for the exclusive content produced by the manufacturer, it would ultimately not be offered free of charge to owners of the brand's products as rumor had predicted. However, the manufacturer would have turned around this idea for a while. The WSJ does not say how these programs will be distributed.

The TV application, which is already pre-installed in Apple TV and iOS devices, should quickly be found in televisions from partner manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Sony and Vizio). Roku's small boxes should also be part of the party.

The other expected service is the one that will offer unlimited access to dozens of magazines from Apple News. The monthly plan should cost $9.99 per month; among the proposed publications, we would find the Wall Street Journal which would mainly highlight its political and general information. Articles about finance and business — the bread and butter of everyday life — would be less easily accessible.

Contrary to the New York Times which says worse than to hang of this initiative of Apple, the WSJ is obviously thoroughly behind the Apple, so much so that the publication intends to hire journalists to feed the participation of the newspaper in Apple News.

The article also returns to Tim Cook's fierce desire to impose Apple on the services market, in order to compensate for falling iPhone sales. In 2015, Apple tried to agree with Disney and other big names to launch a streaming service… without succeeding. Apple would then have considered acquiring Netflix or Disney, or even creating its own production studio.

Eventually, Apple hired two big names from Sony to buy and produce programs. The Apple should show a small part of these first contents during the keynote. Another interesting piece of information is Apple's recognition that it is impossible to conquer services alone.

During a meeting, Jon Giselman, the head of services marketing would have admitted a "mistake" with Apple Music: "We thought we could go it alone, and it took us a long time to catch up [to the competition]. We are not there yet”. Hence the opening of Apple Music to Echo speakers from Amazon, or even AirPlay 2 to smart TV manufacturers.

According to the publication, Apple teams have developed a radar that allows Tim Cook to monitor applications that may threaten Apple. For example, the CEO can measure the difference between iTunes sales versus Apple Music subscription growth.

Amazon Prime's business model has also come under scrutiny: the e-commerce giant generously offers music and video content for a relatively cheap annual subscription. If some internally would push Apple to offer something equivalent for iPhone owners, the management of the company and Tim Cook in mind do not want to hear about it. Apple's services will have a price.