Day: February 2, 2019

Apple may know well before the investors that their flagship iPhone would face a slowdown and it needs new growth strategies.

[Read more on iPhone’s sluggish sales and challenges  & its recent pricing strategy]

Apple has talked about its services for a while and it’s not limited to Apple Care or Genius Bar (“Physical Services”), but more about Distribution Services.

System/Platform Level

I guess the most obvious change happened in 2016 when a new revenue sharing scheme was introduced by Apple – from a 30% cut to a 15%-cut-after-first-year. And other features were included such as “subscription group“… marching into subscription-based services revenue model.

Apple News

Available in Australia, UK, and US, it’s currently a curated display place for publisher subscriptions. It could be developed into a Toutiao-like app for personalization and could be complimentary with Apple’s Stock app.

And it won’t be surprised to me that in the future you can trade stocks through this app – probably by upgrading to a premium version with other complementary benefits (like news/reports).

Apple Music

Anyway, music is where Apple found its turnaround with iTunes and iPod. Plus, it is the most explored region with established companies and new entrants.

Spotify Premium – $9.99 / month

YouTube Music – $9.99/month

Pandora Plus – $4.99/month & Premium – $9.99/month

Apple TV & Streaming Channel

Apple has long reported to be interested in contents distribution especially video. And rumors about an acquisition of Netflix didn’t come from nowhere.

A New York Times report back in March 2018.

A CNBC report in October 2018 – Apple plans to give away original content for free to device owners as part of new digital TV strategy.

Apple has cash and ability for original contents (and can acquire/build a studio). Apple has educated customer base (thanks for Netflix). Apple has introduced Clip for iOS short videos (think about Snapchat and Douyin, plus its ability in music and messaging). Apple has AppleTV and AirPlay.

There are just too many things to do in this space, broadly speaking.

And the competition is fierce. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Youtube TV, Facebook/Instagram TV, Disney/Hulu, AT&T/HBO…

And the AR/VR future…

Let’s see.

Gaming

It might be something new. But Apple could introduce a monthly plan to play most iOS games freely (with some exceptions maybe). Just like what Tencent did with WeChat Read – subscriptions that can read all books on its app.

Let’s see what Steam will do… Steam has subscription-based products, although not a bundle.

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A master bundle plan for Apple users in the future? Possible.