Apple expected to launch a Netflix competitor and news subscription service on 25 March

Apple has sent out invites for its first major event of the year and it looks like it has nothing to do with hardware. Based on the teaser, it appears that Apple is taking on Netflix with its own premium video subscription service.

Apple video subscription service

From the teaser, it shows a countdown sequence with a tag line “It’s show time!”. While it looks like a new Apple TV launch, the Cupertino company is more likely to reveal its new paid video streaming service. So now we have Apple Music competing with Spotify and next, we will see the next battle to take place with Netflix. For those who are hooked to the Apple ecosystem especially users with an Apple TV at home, you can expect a seamless viewing experience throughout your devices.

Can Apple beat Netflix in the streaming game? It all depends how much Apple is willing to invest especially when it comes to exclusive original content.

Apple to release a “Netflix” for news subscription?

Another new service which could be a game changer is a paid news subscription. This is expected to be a brand new service that covers both news and magazine. With digital ad revenue declining for publishers, more news sites are setting up paywall which requires a subscription in order to view their content.

While there are people who are willing to pay for great content, there’s only so much an average consumer would pay for a subscription. If Apple introduces a single premium subscription service that gives unlimited access to all paywall enabled news sites, this would be great for consumers and more publishers can potentially increase their reach and revenue. According to a WSJ report, Apple is allegedly asking as high as 50% cut from publishers.

With the rise of fake news, Apple CEO Tim Cook once mentioned that false reporting is killing people’s mind. To have a trusted source in a single news platform could be seen as an effort to combat fake news that’s often found on social media and search engine results.

Apple had posted all-time record revenue for services in the last quarter with more than US$10 billion. The services category is the next most important segment after iPhone and it brings in more revenue than Mac, iPad and even Wearables.

The event will be streamed live on Apple.com at 1am (Malaysian Time), 26 March 2019.