Apple has a high enough starting point. But how to effectively burn money in the future, how to maintain user growth, is a new topic facing Apple.
According to Bloomberg News on the 14th, in order to attract more subscribers, Apple intends to package its paid products and launch bundled products, which will be launched in 2020. These products include news subscription service Apple News+, streaming video service Apple TV+ and Apple Music.
A recent sign is that Apple has new terms in its agreement with publishers that allow Apple to bundle the news subscription service Apple News+ with other subscription services. The cost of a bundle is lower than the price of a separate service product, which means that publishers are likely to split less in the future.
Apple may take Amazon’s membership route. For example, Prime members packaged services such as streaming media, music, and shopping. Recently, Apple has offered a discount to student users who subscribe to Apple Music, allowing them to use Apple TV+ for free. Users who purchase a new iPhone at the same time can also try Apple TV+ for free for a year.
On the other hand, Apple News+ itself is not performing as well. This product was released in March this year and can be involved in more than 300 top publishers. The monthly subscription fee is $9.99. It is called the “news version of Netflix”. In the 48 hours just released, 200,000 people registered. After the initial outbreak, the service was in a stagflation phase, and the user growth rate began to be weak, and there was no substantial change. This made the publishers very disappointed.
Apple has begun to transform to an Internet company, but the problem it has is that revenue is not so fast. Some media executives say their monthly income from New+ is far less than expected, and one publisher said he had received less than $20,000 a month. And because of Apple’s strict privacy restrictions, advertisers are also lacking in news subscription services for Apple.
In contrast, Apple Music’s performance is excellent, the service was released in 2015, and there are already 60 million users by the middle of this year. Bundled sales can also promote sales of products that are not so good to sell. Apple also has its own advantages, sitting on 900 million users, and has a strong brand, Apple has a high enough starting point. But how to effectively burn money in the future, how to maintain user growth, is a new topic facing Apple.