Why did Apple decide to strip off the hobby label from Apple TV?
MacBook Pro and MacBook Air help Apple to gain PC market share (Part 4 of 4)
Apple strips off the hobby label from Apple TV
Apple (AAPL) TV is a device which enables users to access iTunes content directly for playing music, viewing photos, and streaming HD video. Users can also access from content from Netflix (NFLX), YouTube, Flickr, MLB, Hulu Plus, and iTunes Radio to name a few. Apple has long maintained that Apple TV is more of a hobby for consumers, and the business has not been taken seriously. However, during Apple’s earnings announcement, the management mentioned that it’s stripping off the hobby label from Apple TV as this business’ sales have crossed over $1 billion, and it didn’t feel right to refer to something that’s over $1 billion as a hobby.
Apple still lags behind in the video streaming market
Despite making progress in sales of its set-top box and content pertaining to it, Apple still lags behind market leader Netflix (NFLX), and other players such as Google’s (GOOG) YouTube and Amazon (AMZN) in terms of the volume of video streaming traffic consumed from the site to U.S. broadband subscribers, as per a report from Qwilt. According to this report, Netflix and YouTube dominate this market with a combined share of 74% as of March 2014.
Amazon taking rapid strides in this market
Amazon, through its Prime Instant Video service, has taken rapid strides by getting exclusive subscription for some popular TV shows and movies. For example, on April 1, 2014, Amazon announced that as part of its licensing agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution (FOX), Prime Instant Video is now the exclusive online-only subscription home for streaming all 192 episodes of the award-winning series 24. Prime Instant Video will also be the exclusive online-only subscription home for streaming 24: Live Another Day later this year.
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