Apple TV+ raises subscription price by 40%
October 25, 2022
Apple has confirmed it is raising the prices for its TV+, Music and services-bundle subscriptions for the first time since their respective launches.
Since its launch, Apple TV+ has been priced at £4.99 per month in the UK. Effective immediately, the SVoD service will now cost £6.99 per month, and the annual price has gone up from £49.99 to £69.99 per year. In the US, Apple TV+ will now cost $6.99, up from $4.99.
Meanwhile, Apple Music, has gone up from £9.99 to £10.99 month in the UK, and Apple’s online services bundle, Apple One, has increased from £14.95 per cent month to £16.95.
Apple said that prices are going up as a result of increased licensing costs, and also because Apple TV+ now boasts a lot more content since it first debuted in 2019.
Nick Baker, TV and streaming expert at Uswitch, reacting to the news said: “As the cheapest of the mainstream streaming services, AppleTV+’s 40 per cent price hike will be a big blow to its UK customers. Apple’s decision to increase monthly fees from £4.99 to £6.99 a month also seems to be swimming against the tide, at a time when rivals Netflix and Disney+ are introducing new, lower-cost subscription tiers supported by advertising. Above all, this rise will be a big test of customer loyalty. AppleTV+ has fewer movies than Netflix, whose Basic With Ads package launches {on Nivember 3rd] at £4.99 a month. It also relies solely on original shows like Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, while the likes of Disney+ and Prime Video can both draw heavily on large back catalogues.”
“Yet unlike Netflix, Apple can use its streaming service as part of a wider strategy, offering free trials with sales of iPhones and other devices. This could include offering customers discounted bundle deals, giving them multiple Apple subscriptions in the same package. A fall in AppleTV+ subscriber numbers will not immediately send the share price into a tailspin or give Tim Cook sleepless nights,” added Baker.