Apple TV Plus, News Plus, Arcade and Music could be 2020's must-have bundle
Apple is pondering whether to bundle its growing number of subscription services into a single package in 2020, according to a Bloomberg report.
The well-connected Mark Gurman's sources say the likes of Apple Music, Apple TV Plus and Apple News Plus could be available as a single monthly bundle. Apple Arcade is also a possibility but today's report does not mention this as potentially being part of any content bundle.
Gurman says those familiar with the matter have told him the option could be rolled out as soon as next year, but didn't offer insight into how much Apple may charge for the privilege.
With Apple Music and Apple News Plus both at $9.99 a month, and Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus available for a fiver a month, customers could probably expect a decent discount on the $30 a month it costs to subscribe to them all.
Related: Are there too many streaming service
The report says the prospect of a subscription bundle involving the Apple News+ platform means the company was able to insert a clause into the contracts with publishers that makes it possible to ship News Plus as a bundle. That could mean publishers' cuts could be lessened by lower revenues coming directly from that service.
The news service has some of the most illustrious titles available, but today's report asserts it is struggling to acquire subscribers because advertisers want nothing to do with Apple's policy of prohibiting targeted advertisements. That's definitely something to watch.
This isn't the first time the possibility of a subscription bundle has been mooted, but Apple's thinking may have been accelerated by the arrival of Disney Plus in North America. Disney's vast media empire enables it to offer its new streaming portal, ESPN+ and Hulu with ads for just $12.99.
So far it appears as if Disney Plus is performing better and generating more buzz than Apple TV Plus, with both launching this month. Eagle Alpha surveyed five million tweets from users based in the US (where Netflix, Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus are all available, amongst others) that mentioned a streaming service. Disney+ had 6% of the Twitter conversation that was analysed, compared to 1% for Apple.
