Apple TV+ hikes price once again
By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN
(CNN) — Apple is once again increasing the price of its TV+ streaming platform.
A monthly Apple TV+ subscription will now cost $9.99, up from $6.99, which equates to an overall $36 bump for the year. A year ago, in October 2022, Apple hiked the price for an Apple TV+ subscription from $4.99 to $6.99. The service will still be ad-free, the company said.
The change is effective immediately for new customers and 30 days later for existing subscribers on their next renewal date, according to Apple.
Apple’s streaming platform is home to popular shows including “Ted Lasso,” “The Morning Show” and “Shrinking.”
But it’s not the only Apple service seeing a price increase. Its gaming platform Apple Arcade jumped from $4.99 to $6.99 monthly, and an Apple News subscription is now up $3 to $12.99. Meanwhile, an Apple One subscription, which incorporates all of Apple’s subscription services into one plan, is also up $19.95 from $16.95 monthly for individuals, and $25.95 per month for a family plan, up $3 from the previous plan.
There are no price changes to Apple Music, Apple Fitness+, or iCloud+, the company said. In a statement to CNN, Apple said the change reflects its continued focus on adding more high quality content and features.
The news comes just a week after Netflix raised the prices to its one-stream basic plan to $11.99 in the US. (All other plans, including its entry-level, $6.99-a-month ad-supported tier, will remain at the same monthly cost).
Eric Abbruzzese, director at ABI Research, said it’s not unusual for companies to raise prices, with many citing inflation as a primary reason for the change.
The $10 monthly cost is less than the average for similar services that include 4K video without ads, especially compared to the larger competitors in Netflix, Hulu and Disney+.
“It seems the Apple service favors quality over quantity,” he said. “A number of its TV exclusive programming is multi-award winning. … Subscriber growth estimates point to it growing quicker than most competition as well.”
Apple’s subscription revenue was $21 billion in the second quarter, growing 8% from a year earlier. The company doesn’t publish subscriber numbers for its products such as Apple TV.
Mike Proulx, research director at market research firm Forrester, said most other streaming services have yet to reach profitability, outside of Netflix. That’s because the first battle in the streaming war was all about amassing users, thanks to licensing and developing quality content.
“The challenge that lies ahead for streaming services is all about how to retain and grow their user base amid increasing prices and content cost cutting measures,” Proulx said. “Consumers expect great content at a fair price. It’s about value — and no streaming service has yet to solve the value equation.”
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