Apple Needs 'Strong and Wide' Content Offering, Says Analyst Before Event

Apple’s expected foray into subscription VOD won’t dent Netflix or Amazon Prime Video growth, blogged Futuresource Friday. But the Apple SVOD service, the anticipated topic of the company’s Monday announcement, will be key in the evolution of the 2019 SVOD market this year, along with Disney, wrote analyst David Sidebottom, saying its 20 million Apple TV customers are a “ready-made” audience “waiting to switch on.” The service also will draw viewers via Apple’s partnership with Samsung, announced just before CES (see 1901070062), placing iTunes content on the TV maker’s 2018 and 2019 smart TVs. Sidebottom expects additional partnerships as Apple’s SVOD service ramps, including integration with pay TV. The company will need a “strong and wide content offering,” and even with exclusive or original content, SVOD subscribers will likely “be taking Apple as an additional service, rather than cannibalising their existing video subscriptions,” he wrote.