Apple gets into TV, credit

Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE 11:22 a.m.

Apple's long-awaited video streaming service will be called Apple TV Plus and include original programming that CEO Tim Cook says will show "great storytelling."

The service will compete with Netflix and Amazon Video. Apple is unveiling it at an event Monday at its Cupertino, California headquarters.

Streaming video services have skyrocketed in popularity in the past several years. Research firm eMarketer expects 205 million people in the U.S. will watch streaming video this year.

Apple is a late entrant to the streaming market, where Netflix has been dominant for more than a decade.

Apple also says it will launch a subscription service for games this year.

Apple Arcade subscribers will get to play more than 100 games, curated by Apple. The games will be exclusive to Apple's service. Games can be downloaded and played offline — on the Apple-made iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.

Notably, Apple says all games in this service will allow unlimited play and will have no in-app purchases, which are common on mobile games. Though many mobile games are given out for free, players can rack up hundreds of dollars for optional extras such as virtual weapons.

Apple says the Arcade subscription will be available this fall. The company did not say how much it will cost.

The Arcade subscription is part of a series of announcements Apple is making in Cupertino on Monday to emphasize paid services on its devices.

Google announced its own video game streaming service last week. That service focuses more on traditional video games, though it will also allow games to be played on phones and tablets

Apple is launching its own credit card, called Apple Card, that can be used anywhere Apple Pay is accepted.

Apple says the card will make it easier to see what merchants charged you. It uses Apple Maps to show users where they spend their money. This is in contrast to the sometimes-confusing alphabet soup people can see on their credit card statements.

Apple unveiled the card at an event Monday at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The company is emphasizing privacy and says it won't know what you bought or where.

The card will live in the wallet section of the iPhone, though customers will also get a physical card made of titanium.

It will include a rewards program of 2 per cent back on all transactions. Apple says the card has no late fees, annual fees or fees for going over the credit limit. It's a Mastercard issued by Goldman Sachs.

ORIGINAL 5:38 a.m.

Apple is expected to announce Monday that it's launching a video service that could compete with Netflix, Amazon and cable TV itself.

It's a long-awaited attempt from the iPhone maker, several years after Netflix turned "binge watching" into a worldwide phenomenon.

The new video service is expected to have original TV shows and movies that reportedly cost Apple more than $1 billion — far less than Netflix and HBO spend every year.

Also expected is a subscription service consisting of news, entertainment and sports bundled from newspapers and magazines.

Apple is making the announcements at its Cupertino, California, headquarters during an event likely to be studded with Hollywood celebrities.

The iPhone has long been Apple's marquee product and main money maker, but sales are starting to decline. The company is pushing digital subscriptions as it searches for new growth.

Making must-have TV shows and movies that are watchable on any device has propelled Netflix into a force in both Silicon Valley and Hollywood.

But Apple remained focused on making on gadgets: iPhones, iPads, computers and its Apple TV streaming box for TVs. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs began toying with the idea of building a powerful TV business, but he couldn't pull it off before his death in 2011. It has taken his successor, CEO Tim Cook, nearly eight years to draw up the script that the company will now try to execute.

"Apple is very late to this game," eMarketer analyst Paul Verna said. "Netflix has become the gold standard in how to create and distribute content, using all the data they have about their viewers."

Netflix's prowess has attracted 139 million subscribers worldwide. But Apple will have several other deep-pocketed competitors fighting for consumers' dollars. Amazon has also become a formidable force in video streaming. Walt Disney Co. is launching its own service this year, armed with an imposing library that became more formidable with its purchase of 21st Century Fox's films and TV series. AT&T is debuting another streaming service built around HBO.

Apple has plenty of money to spend, though, with about $245 billion in cash and marketable securities. It must prove itself attractive to Hollywood even without a track record for supporting high-quality programming and then ensuring it gets widely seen.

As part of its efforts to make quick connections, Apple hired two longtime Sony television executives, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, in 2017. They have reportedly signed up stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Jennifer Aniston.