Apple streaming services event set for March 25: reports

Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple launch event in the Brooklyn borough of New York, October 30, 2018. 

Apple is holding an event on March 25 to announce new services, including streaming video and subscription news, according to reports in BuzzFeed and Bloomberg.

Adding new subscription services would help Apple bolster its services revenue, which the company is counting on to spur growth as iPhone sales fall. iPhone revenues were down 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, and things don’t look much brighter for the iPhone as the year rolls on.

Today, the company’s services revenue includes a large component from Google, which pays Apple to be the default search engine, as well as from sales of apps and content. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs analysts pointed out the dependence on Google and suggested that a new Apple Prime service is necessary to keep services revenue growing.

At the March 25 event, the company is widely expected to unveil a new video streaming service that will combine free original content with subscription video services from companies such as Starz and Showtime, with a debut in April or May, and negotiations are still underway with HBO, as CNBC previously reported. That service would be integrated into the company’s TV app.

Apple will also reportedly use the event to introduce a bundled news product that will combine subscription offerings from multiple publishers. The company has driving a hard bargain with news outlets, asking for about half of the revenues from the service, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Apple declined to comment.

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