Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Services remain a small fraction of Apple’s revenues
Share of total revenues (%)
Other
2014
16
17
18
iPhone
Services
100
80
60
40
20
0
CHAPTER 18 MARKETING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

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forth between different brands,’ said one person 
with knowledge of the plans.
Hollywood executives are tempted to team up with 
Apple because of its massive reach, but are also wary 
of the potential costs of further ceding control of their 
content to tech giants. Within Apple’s ecosystem, 
they may not be privy to information about who their 
customers are or what they are watching. TV groups 
fear losing their longstanding control over pricing or 
user interface design, with their channel brands sub-
merged behind a list of programmes and Apple acting 
as gatekeeper.
Netflix said at its own press event in Hollywood 
on Monday that it would not be joining Apple’s new 
platform. ‘We want to have people watch our content 
on our service,’ Reed Hastings, Netflix chief execu-
tive, told reporters, Bloomberg reported.
For smaller companies such as Viacom and CBS, 
this is an easier decision. Viacom is not trying to 
build its own streaming service and is making good 
money by selling shows to tech companies, such 
as a reboot of MTV’s Real World reality show for 
Facebook.
The decision is more complicated for AT&T and 
Disney, who have made mega acquisitions to build 
their content libraries and take on Netflix. ‘There 
will be some content that [they] decide is probably 
best to keep,’ said one person familiar with AT&T’s 
strategy. ‘The calculus is different now.’
Disney is gearing up to reveal plans for its own 
streaming service just two weeks after Apple’s event. 
The media group has been outspoken about its plans, 
with chief executive Bob Iger dropping details dur-
ing earnings calls through the past year.
By contrast, Apple has provided little information 
about the March 25 event, even to the studios whose 
shows will appear as part of its new video bundle. 
After waiting so long for the big unveiling, many in 
the television business still feel Apple has a lot to 
prove.
‘They haven’t illustrated a strategy,’ said one TV 
network executive. ‘It’s Apple, but at the same time 
there are other places to go.’
This story has been updated since publication to 
include comments from Reed Hastings, Netflix chief 
executive.
Source
: from ‘Apple ready to unveil big bet on television’, Financial Times, 19/03/19 (Bradshaw, T. and Nicolaou, A.).
Discussion questions
1 
What are the issues presented here?
2 
How can Apple address them?
CHAPTER 18 MARKETING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Apple TV trails competitors in the US connected television market
Source
: Tim Bradshaw (2019), Apple ready to unveil big bet on television, The Financial Times.