Can Apple TV+ enter Indian homes like Netflix, Amazon Prime?

New Delhi: Apple made history by grabbing Hollywood’s most coveted honour, as its original film ‘CODA’ won the Oscar for best picture at the 94th Academy Awards. ‘CODA’ marks the first time a streaming service has won the best picture Oscar, beating rival Netflix to the punch. Can this make Apple TV+ a household name […]

New Delhi: Apple made history by grabbing Hollywood’s most coveted honour, as its original film ‘CODA’ won the Oscar for best picture at the 94th Academy Awards. ‘CODA’ marks the first time a streaming service has won the best picture Oscar, beating rival Netflix to the punch.

Can this make Apple TV+ a household name in India the way Netflix or Amazon Prime have become?

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While Netflix has never revealed the number of subscribers in India, estimates show it could have nearly 5 million users in the country (compared to Disney+Hotstar which has a massive about 46 million users and Amazon Prime with more than 17 million users).

Apple TV+ has a nearly 1 per cent share in the Indian OTT market (according to Omdia) and to gain more users in the country, it needs to increase its installed device base as the streaming service is experienced best on Apple devices.

In 2019, the company announced a cheaper Apple TV+ subscription — Rs 99 per month in India — that left the over-the-top (OTT) players a bit concerned.

Customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch or Mac can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free.

However, the Apple streaming service has miles to go in the country.

According to experts, in order to make deeper inroads into the Indian living rooms, Apple needs to sell more devices and create more desi content to bring in more people into its ecosystem so that they can enjoy Apple TV+.

The Indian entertainment scene is witnessing a seismic change with more than 40 over-the-top (OTT) platforms vying for space as players look to differentiate themselves.

Many OTT players are also investing in building their regional content libraries to meet the demand.

Massive capital commitments have been made by OTT platforms for building libraries of diverse original content over the last couple of years for the Indian audience.

“Apple’s Best Picture win for CODA marks a seminal moment for streaming platforms. It bolsters Apple’s success in attracting more richer content, as well as more subscribers to its service. It also puts a shade on Netflix’s content struggles,” Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, told IANS.