Apple TV+ is losing over $1 billion per year: report

Apple is losing over US$1 billion (C$1.4 billion) annually on its streaming business, according to The Information. 

Per the publication, the tech giant had been spending a staggering US$5 billion (C$7.1 billion) per year on content for Apple TV+ since its launch in November 2019. However, The Information notes that it cut back annual content spending by about US$500 million (C$716 million) last year.

This follows a Bloomberg report from last year which stated that Apple has spent over US$20 billion (C$28.6 billion) and had a reputation for being the “biggest spender in town.” That’s because the company was known for shelling out tons of cash for just a few titles, like a reported US$700 million (C$1 billion) on just three films: Killers of the Flower Moon, Argylle and Napoleon. (Only the first of those, the latest award-winning film from legendary director Martin Scorsese, had some measure of success, with the others received mixed to negative reviews and underperformed in theatres.)

Reports about Apple’s streaming spend are interesting because the company doesn’t divulge how many TV+ subscribers it has. By comparison, rivals like Netflix and Disney+ publicly disclose these figures (301.63 million and 124.6 million, respectively, per the latest data). Citing analyst estimates, The Information reports that Apple TV+ has around 45 million subscribers, although again, that’s not an official number.

Instead, Apple’s earnings reports simply lump TV+ in with its larger “Services” division, which includes everything from subscriptions like Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and Apple Books to platforms like the App Store and Apple Pay. In fiscal year 2024, the company just said the whole division made US$96 billion/C$137.5 billion, so Apple TV+’s specific contribution is unclear.

Of course, Apple is hardly a company that’s hurting for money, having generated US$391 billion (C$560 billion) in the 2024 fiscal year, so it can definitely absorb these losses. There are also other reasons the company would want to invest in Apple TV+, chief among them being its prestige. In a January earnings call, CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple TV+ productions have earned more than 2,500 nominations and 538 wins.

Original titles like Severance, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show and Pachinko, in particular, have all garnered critical acclaim and awards recognition. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ is still the only streamer to have won the highly coveted Academy Award for Best Picture for its 2021 comedy-drama film CODA. Netflix, meanwhile, has been vying to take home that top Oscars honour for years now with films like Roma, The Irishman, Maestro and Emilia Pérez.

It remains to be seen what might come out of Apple TV+ in the years to come, but it certainly seems to be sticking around.

Image credit: Apple

Source: The Information Via: Deadline