2 Apples don't need money , But do the content “ There's no reserve ”

source ： The Tao always makes sense （ID：daotmt）

Apple doesn't know how to create , Still don't understand streaming media ？

As long as it's something apple is eyeing , Never seem to care how much you spend .

In recent days, , according to 《 Wall Street journal 》 reports , Apple is once again paying for content , With major league football MLS Signed a ten-year agreement , in other words , stay 2023 Year to 2031 During the year of , Apple has MLS Exclusive streaming media live broadcast copyright .

It is reported that , For this Agreement , The apple took 25 Billion dollars , The annual transaction amount is guaranteed to be as high as 2.5 Billion dollars . This is not the first time Apple has spent a lot of money on content , At least three months ago , Apple once played with major league baseball MLB Sign a contract for 7 year , Value up to 8500 Thousands of dollars in “ Friday baseball night ” contract .

Perhaps few people realize that this national technology giant , In addition to mobile phones and other hardware facilities , Content has gradually become an important business . As early as 2018 year ,CNN Statistics have been made , In the past year, Apple's service revenue has reached 272 $100 million in revenue , Increased in the first nine months of the fiscal year 27%, Is much higher than iPhone sales 15% The growth of .

in addition , According to JPMorgan Chase's data , To 2025 year , Apple's music and game subscription service revenue is expected to grow 36%, Up to... Every year 82 Billion dollars , And apple is also spending a lot of money to build content ecology , Almost every year .

01 For Apple “ Human sea tactics ” Hegemony ？

Apple has always spared no effort in the field of content , In addition to asset investment , Attracting talents is even more high-profile .

The prosperity of content ecology is really inseparable from creative talents , Starting from the individual was once a key link in Apple's steady implementation of the content plan , This deeply reflects the determination of the giant to prepare for a rainy day . As early as 2015 year , Apple launches its own news app Apple News, For this news aggregation Software , Apple also hired... For the first time 《 New York magazine 》 The editor in chief of .

after that , More and more people hold apple in their arms , Whether in front of the stage , Or behind the scenes .

In order to catch up with the tide of streaming media , Apple even set up a new entertainment content studio in Hollywood , Recruiting all the way , The aura of this technology company has gradually spread to every corner of the cultural and entertainment market . It is reported that , Celebrity effect was once Apple's important strategy of taking content as king , The American media industry has been smashed by apple for a long time .

According to foreign media reports , since 2017 year , Many senior executives in the video field have joined apple , Include Youtube 、 Spotify 、WGN、Hulu、 Amazon international video 、 SONY 、 U.S. universal TV, etc . As far as homemade dramas are concerned , From director to screenwriter 、 Down to actor production , The apples gathered in one breath .

such as , Remake with Spielberg 《 Amazing legend 》; With Damian · Shazelle made a drama , The director's previous masterpiece is 《 Philharmonic City 》; And invited Jennifer · Aniston joins the co - op drama comedy ; Sign up with the famous host Oprah ; Sign an income guarantee agreement with the American writers' Association , It includes as many people as 1.4 Ten thousand writers ……

Apple's in content “ Human sea tactics ” It is no less than the two-year machine sea strategy , Even in different areas , such as Apple Music When I entered China , There is Eason Chan 、 Jj Lin 、 Deng Ziqi and other Chinese singers joined us . Apple wants to use talent hoarding to optimize its content system , This is not difficult to understand at first .

Need to know ,2015 Year to 2019 In between , The global content ecology shines brightly , There are countless giants who have developed content business worldwide , Light one Facebook In the instant news 、 Live and VR Back and forth , Talent seems to race against the clock , Not just overseas , At that time, the competition for talents in China was also in full swing .

according to Boss Direct employment data , At home 2017 Around, more than 10000 enterprises released content talents , Salary in 2 The proportion of posts with a total of more than 10000 2015 An increase of 60%. today , Is Apple's crowd tactics still effective ？ Although the content market has been severely criticized in the past two years , But one thing is for sure , No one has given up the principle of content first .

British research company Ampere Analysis expect , The total expenditure of the entire streaming media industry this year will exceed 2300 Billion dollars . Apple is rich and powerful , Other participants are no exception , The United States NBC Comcast, the parent company of globegroup, and Disney and other companies have respectively spent on sports broadcasting rights 227 $and 330 Billion dollars .

Look around , Netflix spent about... On content last year 170 Billion dollars , It is expected that this year's expenditure on content will be lower than 2021 Annual growth 25%、 a 2020 Annual growth 57%. Disney is also generous in its overall content spending , This year's content spending will continue to grow to 330 Billion dollars , Higher than all Hollywood media and entertainment groups .

According to a source , Disney to 2024 Annual content spending will grow to 140 Billion —160 Billion dollars . without doubt , Apple dare not slack off , I dare not let go , Throw money with one hand , Hand in hand , At least it won't be too disastrous .

02 Apple doesn't understand “ Streaming media ”？

What Apple initially hoped for in the streaming media field was a self-made drama , And inherited the consistent production style ： At all costs , But for the best . Data statistics , Apple's early investments 《 Morning show 》, The production cost of each episode is as high as 1500 Thousands of dollars ,《 Flower Moon killer 》 The cost even reaches 2.25 Billion dollars .

and Apple TV＋ Our budget is also climbing , from 10 Up to $100 million 60 Billion dollars . generous , Apple is not without harvest , It is reported that ,Apple TV+ Two years after its launch, it has obtained 763 Awards nominations and 190 Awards , before , Apple also relies on 《 Hearing girl 》 Won an Oscar for best picture , It became the streaming media provider that won the best picture for the first time , The film is also Apple TV＋ brought 25% New users .

But even apple is making a splash at the Oscars , The doubts surrounding him never stopped . It is different from the innovative avantgarde of head media such as Naifei ,Apple TV＋ The content output of is always conservative , From joining the streaming media battle , And released several homemade dramas in succession , Apple's strict content censorship has been “ Group ridicule ”.

Count it down , In recent years, Apple has made a lot of jokes between the two contradictory ideas of conservative content and forward technology , Bloomberg and 《 Wall Street journal 》 They have made fun of each other in their articles ,《 Wall Street journal 》 In a report published by apple, Apple's original censorship is called “ Puritan ” review .

The fact proved that , This kind of talk is not groundless . For example, Apple should be in 《 Carpooling kara OK》 in , Shielding James · Curdon burst into foul language when he pretended to be angry , Eventually, the program was delayed ;M· Knight · Shamaran's thriller project was asked by apple to reduce the number of crosses in some rooms ; Apple is even sensitive because of some humorous elements , Directly replaced the main creator of the morning news series .

Undeniable? , Apple's content line is incompatible with the winning strategy of the entire streaming media era . Especially Naifei , Netflix has created an era of global streaming media transformation , Whether it's the original 《 House of CARDS 》《 Women's prison 》, It is also the most watched in history 《 Squid game 》 Neither is the truth, goodness or beauty in the traditional sense .

This kind of dystopian content also continues to be popular ,《 Squid game 》 after , Dark fantasy wind 《 Hell minister 》 Once broadcast , And then I went to the top Netflix Top of the global rankings .Disney+ Bring it with you IP attribute , Controversial in South Korea 《 Galanthus nivalis 》,Disney+ Online has also become a popular series .

Apples are totally different , It is reported that , Apple's constraints on content come from cook .2017 year , Cook is watching Apple's first screenplay 《 Signs of life 》 when , Because the content is dark, I object to playing . Apple doesn't know how to create , Still don't understand streaming media ？ Obviously not , Need to know , Behind Apple's content ecology, there is always a strong brand image .

once , Apple is funding Hollywood entertainment 10 Billion dollars , Cook has repeatedly stressed that all programs produced by Apple should not tarnish the clean corporate brand image , Because once something doesn't mean to offend the public , It will certainly backfire on its own consumer market . But Apple's many concerns inevitably lead it into a certain crisis .

Let's see how strong the competitors around apple are ？

According to statistics , Netflix, an American streaming media giant 2020 In, the global total users reached... For the first time 2.04 Billion , Among them, the number of subscribers in the United States and Canada reached 7400 ten thousand ; Disney's streaming media platform Disney+2020 In, the number of subscribers in the world exceeded 1 Billion , Another first-class media platform under the company Hulu 2020 The number of subscribers reached 3940 ten thousand .

On the contrary, apple , Even though Apple TV+ The number of subscribers has not been officially announced , But many organizations speculate that Apple TV+ The scale of paying users is only about 2 Ten million , according to JustWatch The report of ,Apple TV+ As of this year 2 month , Only 5.6% Market share .

Making content is better than making mobile phones , Apple's openness and bravery towards technology can never be used in this field .

03 Apple makes content , It still depends on hardware ？

This is a sad story .

Apple's self-esteem, which has always been strong, has been severely criticized in this field , To restore dignity and reputation , Apple caters to streaming media very much “ sincere ”. The first is the price , Early in the morning, apple circuitously entered the market at a low price , Only... Every month 4.99 dollar , The average price of streaming media in North America is 9 To 15 dollar , The posture of the apple is visible to the naked eye .

Besides , Apple also offers new users a year of free use , Just because 45% Of U.S. consumers have not subscribed to any streaming platforms yet . But cost performance doesn't seem to have much effect , North American survey J.D.Power A survey of , The willingness of American consumers to subscribe to streaming media services is Netflix81%、 Amazon 65%、Hulu56%、 Disney 47%、HBO Max22%、Peacock18%, and Apple TV+ Only 14%, Bottom of the list .

And in the 2021 year 7 After reducing the free trial period for new customers in January ,Apple TV + It will inevitably lose its advantages . What should the fate of Apple's streaming media be rewritten ？ The content is dim , Price failure , I made a circle , It seems that I have returned to my old job . Since last year , Apple entrusted the future of streaming media to hardware .

such as 2021 year ,Apple TV Has been able to achieve 4K 120FPS HDR And Dolby panoramic sound , And the higher profile is , Apple is expected to launch a product that will integrate the digital world with the real world next year AR Headgear , This is destined to subvert the visual experience of streaming media , In order to better catalyze the market , Apple also hired Jon · Fabro and other famous Hollywood directors will develop video content for the equipment to be launched next year .

But how much can the most proud hardware business help the content ecology ？

It is worth noting that , It is not uncommon for mobile devices to connect with streaming media overseas , Amazon last year 9 Two TV sets were launched in January ,Amazon Fire TV Omni Series and Amazon Fire TV 4 Series, meanwhile , Google also planned to launch a product based on Android The second generation of television Chromecast Ultra.

Amazon once became TV Device maniac , There are foreign media reports , Amazon seems ready to launch 20 Many new TV equipment , Including the new streaming media player Fire TV Cube、 Many kinds of Fire TV Edition Smart TV and the first OLED Fire TV TV . Virtual devices , Microsoft 、 Google and Meta Are in the mixed development stage .

indeed , These devices are not like mobile phones , Apple is the king in the field . The giant comes on stage , he rooks everyone he can get his claws into , Even an apple may not be able to bear it .

Besides , Apple TV It can be done with iPhone And other mainstream Apple products TV A key factor for the equipment market to gain a foothold , But global inflation 、 Rising cost of raw materials , Next iPhone 14 The price of the series may rise by a large margin , Although there is no clear information yet , But many organizations speculate that 14 The best configuration of may break through 14000 element .

Price increases are bound to affect sales , For example, Sina technology has launched a “ Do you think iPhone14 Will the price increase affect the sales ？” The research of , existing 7.1 Million netizens participated in , As high as 4 Ten thousand netizens think it will affect sales , More than half . No one can afford Apple's new mobile phone , When the , I'm afraid Apple's way of streaming media will only be more difficult .