CUPERTINO, Calif. – During Apple Inc.’s Q1 conference call with financial analysts, CEO Tim Cook said he believes the breakdown of the traditional cable TV bundle will speed up in 2019.
“We see huge changes in customer behavior taking place now,” he said when asked about Apple’s video prospects. “We think that it will accelerate as the year goes by to sort of breakdown of the cable bundle that's been talked about for years – and I think that it'll likely take place at a much faster pace this year.
Of course, for Cook and Apple, whose iPhone sales are plateauing, this is something they need and hope to happen in order to grow beyond sales of its iconic devices.
Besides its existing Apple TV product, Cook spoke briefly about other ways the company will monetize video, pointing to its whole home streaming app AirPlay 2, available on a growing number of third-party television sets. “It makes the experience in the living room with people using our products even better. We think that people are really going to like that,” he said.
Cook also believes the growing number of places from which to subscribe to video, where Apple delivers through its app store, and video it sells through iTunes, will contribute to the traditional video bundle coming apart.
“I would guess that that's going to accelerate into the future as the bundle breaks down and people begin to buy likely multiple services in place of their current cable bundle,” he said.
(Ed note: We wonder if that will be any cheaper, in the end?)
Cook also noted Apple has begun to create its own original content, mentioning Oprah Winfrey by name. “We've hired some great people that I have a super amount of confidence in and they're working really hard and we'll have something to say more on that later.”
(Ed note to the BTLR panel: You’re on the clock, not that you didn't know that already…)
