Apple to roll out global TV service

Tech giant Apple is to take on Amazon and Netflix by launching its TV subscription service in more than 100 countries, according to reports.

The US company is currently working towards launching its new TV service in America in the first half of next year, before making it available globally by the end of 2019, according to The Information.

The service will be a mixture of original content and other programmes. The Information said Apple has reportedly a $1bn budget for content acquisitions and original content in 2018. Deals have already believed to have been struck with media doyenne Oprah Winfrey and children’s television specialist Sesame Workshop.

Apple, which is due to publish fourth-quarter results on 1 November, did not comment on the reports. But it is thought Apple’s original content will be free for iOS users, and that users will be able to sign up for TV network subscriptions owned by other companies.

On-demand TV services, that show both original content alongside other programmes, are becoming increasing popular, with Amazon Prime Video now in 200 countries and Netflix in more than 190.

Apple’s core business remains its hardware. But with more than a billion Apple products currently in active use, the company is increasingly looking to monetise its customer base through services such as Apple Pay and Apple TV. Its services division is one of its fastest growing business units, with consecutive quarterly revenue growth of around 30%, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.

ITALIAN FINE

Separately, Apple and South Korea's Samsung have been hit with fines by the Italian competition authority for the “planned obsolescence” of their devices.

Apple has been fined €10m and Samsung €5m because of software updates that slowed down older phones.

The authority said Apple and Samsung had “implemented unfair commercial practices”, with the updates causing “serious malfunctions and significantly reduced performance” that provoked users into upgrading their devices.