Apple is looking into bundling its digital products as a way to draw in subscribers.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, the tech giant is thinking about combining its Apple TV+, Apple Music, and News+ services into a single package.
The bundle of paid internet services could arrive as soon as 2020, and would be aimed at further growing its subscriber base as iPhone sales continue to slow, the report said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg also points out that if Apple did combine its news service with Apple TV+ and Apple Music, publishers would receive less money as the cost of News+ would likely be reduced.
The Apple News+ reception by some media executives has been lukewarm — a lot less money is coming in than they anticipated. One publisher earns less than $20,000 a month from the service, less than it made from an earlier version called Texture–which was partly owned by Rogers Media–the source said.
As the report notes, smartphone sales have been stagnating for years, leading to Apple putting new focus on paid subscriptions. It recently launched both Apple TV+ and its Apple Arcade mobile gaming service.
Apple Music is by far the company’s most popular subscription, with SVP of services Eddy Cue reporting in June that it has 60 million paying subscribers.
While offering three of its services in one discounted mega-bundle sounds appealing, Apple will still face stiff competition in an increasingly crowded market dominated by the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and now, Disney+.
