Elevated by an incredible March quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared the company’s plans for its video streaming service, Apple TV+. When asked about the price increase of Apple TV+ subscription fee, like competing video streaming services, Cook said there is no plan to increase the monthly fee.
With 54% Y-o-Y growth, Apple reported record revenue of $89.6 billion for Q2 2021, and the services category accounted for $16,901 million. Apple CFO Luca Maestri detailed that the company “reached an all-time revenue record of $16.9 billion with all-time records for the App Store, cloud services, music, video, advertising, and payment services. Our new service offerings, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Fitness+, as well as the Apple One bundle, continue to scale across users, content, and features and are contributing to overall services growth.”
Apple TV+ subscription fee will remain the same
During Apple’s 2021 Q2 earnings call, Tim Cook was questioned if the company will increase Apple TV+ subscription price like Netflix, Hulu, and other video streaming services. He was also asked to share subscriber stats. In response, Cook said:
TV+ — let me start with TV+. TV+ is going very well. As you know, the objective and the philosophy that we’ve had on TV+ is to create high-quality original content and to be one of the most desired platforms for storytellers. And I see that happening day by day as we sign more shows and more storytellers including Malala as I had mentioned in my opening comments.
To date, we’ve received — the Apple Originals have received 352 award nominations and had 98 wins. And this is from Oscar nominations to Emmy Awards to Critic Choice awards and all the rest. And we’ve got some shows that are — have gotten significant buzz like Ted Lasso and The Morning Show and Defending Jacob and many others. And so, we feel really good about where we are.
He further added that they will not release the number of subscribers because currently, it’s not about numbers. The company is focusing on giving subscribers a great experience.
We’re not releasing subscriber numbers. But we feel good about where we are. In terms of other services and pricing, I don’t have anything to announce today. We try to give the customer a great value. And we feel that we’re doing that in the — with the prices that we’ve got. And we’ll see where we go from here.
Discussing Apple TV+ achievements in a short period, Cook shared that the service has won many awards and accolades for its great storytelling.
No matter what device you enjoy it from, it is a milestone period for Apple TV+, racking up many new award nominations and wins, including its first Oscar nominations. Ted Lasso, in particular, has been recognized with a multitude of awards and nominations including most recently, an AFI Program of the Year Recognition, Writers Guild of America Awards and a clean sweep at the Critics Choice Awards.
Apple TV+ also continues to be a place where we can tell stories that matter and lift up important voices and experiences like our new upcoming content partnership with Malala, or our latest original documentary special, The Year the Earth Changed, narrated by the legendary David Attenborough and released to commemorate Earth Day.
Apple TV+ is available across Apple devices via apple.tv app for $4.99 per month subscription fee which is much lower than rival services like Netlfix price starts from $8.99, Amazon Prime costs $9/ month, Paramount+ costs $10, and HBO Max costs $15. The service is regularly acquiring new titles and releasing new content to expand its catalog. As a promotional offer to attract new subscribers, the company has extended the service’s free trial period for new and existing subscribers. Netflix has criticized Apple for extending its free trial period, but it seems like the Cupertino tech company is satisfied with its business model at the moment.
