Since last year, Apple has been trying to bring its Apple TV+ video streaming service to China through the most widely established telecommunication provider - China Mobile. The Information reported the talks between the two companies, but there has not been much update about the status of the agreement. If the deal is successful, the tech giant might become the only US streaming service to make it to China, one of the biggest markets.
Apple and China Mobile might announce a partnership to potentially bring Apple TV+ to China and explore a huge consumer market
If the deal is sealed, Apple will gain access to a new market with 200 million consumers who could potentially be AppleTV+ users as they already pay for traditional TV services through a digital set-top box. Chinese law generally prohibits the US from offering its services directly to the market, but with the proposed partnership, the company might be able to distribute content through the China Mobile set-top boxes that are part of their broadband services for a monthly subscription fee.
The partnership has been in the works since 2022, and Apple intended to announce the agreement. However, the deal went sideways, and the status of the talks remains ambiguous. If the deal was finalized, the iPhone TV app would likely be restricted from featuring Apple's content in the region, as this would be a breach of Chinese law.
The subscription fee for Apple TV+ in China would be relatively cheaper as the content would be mostly available in English. Additionally, the Chinese market differs from that in the U.S. regarding the impact consumers have on pricing, which is relatively weaker in the former. Given the wide base of potential consumers, the chances of great economic benefits are still substantial.
Considering the promising prospect of the partnership, Apple could expand its Apple TV+ reach to a great extent and even explore launching other services in the country, such as Apple Arcade. Whenever the services are made available in China, the Cupertino giant will not have to worry much about taming the original content, given how it proactively already deals with sensitive topics.
Apple TV+ might have about 25 million subscribers who have signed up for the services. Even though we do have all the details on the revenues, the growth has seen an upsurge in recent years. With plans to expand to China as well, we could see the segment growing extensively.
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