How Apple TV will impact other OTT players: A comparison

Apple Inc unfolded new Apple TV services and it’s pricing on Tuesday. They made an announcement that Streaming TV services will kick off from November 1, 2019 at the price of $4.99 a month in US & other markets, and at Rs 99 ($1.40) in India. The price is lower when compared to other OTT players in India and lower pricing is expected to penetrate markets jam-packed with high competitions. New buyers of Apple products will enjoy free year of subscription for one year and Apple TV services will be available to over 100 countries.

Although the pricing offered by Apple Inc is lower but the question is who all can enjoy such services? Here is the list:

All Apple user

Smart TVs from Samsung

In a years’ time it will be made available on Roku, Amazon's Fire TV devices and smart TVs from Sony, LG and Vizio

Subscribers can watch Apple TV via web at tv.apple.com

However, android users won’t be able to download Apple TV app but they can still watch it by logging on the web page.

Recently Jio (Reliance Industries Telecom Arm) unfolded packages for JioFiber, across 1,600 cities and towns. The plans range from Rs 699 to Rs 8,499 a month. The packages is bundled with several OTT players. And now Apple TV coming up with Rs 99 plan put further pressure on the OTT players. The most expected to be impacted is Netflix due to similar content showcase and global presence, but differential pricing. Other players like Hotsar, Zee5, Alt Balaji showcase a lot of regional content and their pricing is also low, except for Hotstar. Apple TV won’t have ads, like Netflix and at the beginning it will kick-off with nine titles (read series), add five more titles in a month, and keep adding to this in the coming months. However, plans for Apple originals remain unclear till date but will eye an eye on the same. Content showcased on Apple TV will be a combination of drama, comedy, documentary and other genres.

Edelweiss contends that Apple TV’s pricing is in line with other Indian players, but it will definitely heat up competition for global players like Netflix. The brokerage sees more pressure on Netflix vs other OTT players like ZEE5 due to them having more Indian content. Not much impact of Apple TV’s launch is seen on the prospects of Zee5, Jio TV and Alt balaji in near term.

According to a PwC report - India's entertainment and media industry is set to clock over Rs 4,51,373 crore in revenues by 2023. India’s OTT video market will grow at a 21.8% CAGR from Rs 4,464 crore in 2018 to Rs 11,976 crore in 2023. Subscription video on demand will increase at a 23.3% CAGR from Rs 3,756 crore in 2018 to Rs 10,708 crore in 2023. The potential of India’s enormous scale will become reality during the forecast period with its OTT video market overtaking that of South Korea to become the eighth-biggest market in the world by 2023.

Rajib Basu, Partner & Leader – Entertainment & Media, PwC India said, “India is the fastest growing entertainment and media market globally and is expected to keep that momentum. Our research shows that in the next 5 years India will see significant growth in OTT, Online Gaming and Internet advertising”.