The latest The Information report reveals that almost six years after being unveiled, Apple TV+ is still losing money non-stop. The paywalled report shows that even though the streaming service has around 45 million subscribers, it still loses around a billion dollars annually.
This is why Apple has been trying to lower spending with Apple TV+ productions since 2024. In a previous story by Bloomberg, the company was reportedly “refining its strategy in Hollywood.” Eddy Cue had been meeting with studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to review budgets. At the time, the publication wrote: “Management is trying to pay less upfront for shows and is quicker to cancel ones that aren’t working. It’s forcing third-party studios to shoulder more of the burden when productions go over budget and is starting to license programming from competitors to reduce the service’s reliance on original series.”
Some of the shows affected were Severance and Foundation, which have impressively high budgets for their first seasons. According to The Information, Apple’s CEO also raised questions about movie deals, including Argylle, which cost $200 million to produce and didn’t improve the service’s audience.
While Apple already expected to lose a lot of money in the first decade of Apple TV+, the company’s other services are also struggling. The report indicates that Apple Music is “only marginally profitable,” and Eddy Cue doesn’t believe the service will ever reach 100 million paying subscribers. To make things worse, iTunes Store sales continue to shrink.
In addition, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Arcade suffer from low usage and profits. The Information reveals that Apple Arcade had only two million users in the first year of operation, even though a quarter were using free trials. The publication ends by saying that if it weren’t for the Apple One subscription, Apple Arcade and Apple Fitness+ wouldn’t be profitable.
Wrap up
With The Information‘s report, it makes sense some of the stories BGR reported over the past year, including the layoffs on the Apple News and Apple Books teams and the current deals Apple has been offering, such as free weekends and lower prices for Apple Music.
Even though Apple’s services continue to grow in revenue, the company still has a long way to go to make its offerings profitable. Whether it discontinues these services or changes its strategy will only be determined by time.
One thing is for sure: Not even Severance, the most popular show available right now, can save Apple TV+.
