From AppleInsider, reporting on a Wall Street Journal article:

Citing Hollywood studio sources, The Wall Street Journal on Sunday said Apple's share for selling and renting movies, as well as other video content, has dropped to between 20 percent and 35 percent, down from over 50 percent as recently as 2012.

The steep decline comes as competitors Amazon and Comcast enjoy market share gains on the back of aggressive industry moves.

...

Interestingly, the loss of market share is not uniform across genres, the report said. For example, iTunes is a top distributor of independent movies, as Apple promotes and signs exclusive deals for films made outside of the traditional movie studio system, sources said.

Anyone who is surprised by this, raise their hand.

The more interesting question is why Apple cares. I understand they've successfully made the transistion from selling DRM'd media files to selling streaming subscriptions with music. But what's different between music and video?

Apple doesn't make music. They sell subscriptions to listen to everyone's music, not music they produce. I realize they tried to become a cable provider and didn't quite make it, but this Netflix approach they're trying with Planet of the Apps? I'm not a huge fan. Signing independent movies might be a smart move, but why even bother with video subscriptions? What does Apple really want to look like in 15 years?

Apple doesn't tend to have its finger on the pulse of what's popular. I think back to the proverbially skeuomorphic iOSes before 7. And Ping. There's nothing about Apple that says they're great at following the wave. They were fortunate enough to get in front of the wave thrice, but they've never caught one.

I wish they'd stop trying.

Labels: apple, business, video