Apple TV+, launching this fall, will focus on a small but high-quality lineup, said Apple’s software and services VP Eddy Cue in a recent interview with The Times.
Cue notes that Apple hasn’t always been the leader when it comes to hardware, pointing out that they weren’t the first to produce computers, smartphones, or tablets. “We try to be the best, and we don’t have to be the first to be the best,” he said. He explains that while Apple doesn’t “know a lot about television other than we are big consumers of it,” what it does do is “find the best people for it.”
Apple is working on “creating the best” content rather than “creating the most,” Cue told The Times this week. He nevertheless acknowledged that Netflix has succeeded with a non-stop flow of new content, such that viewers can even complain about the barrage making it hard to choose.
Apple is a latecomer to the streaming video industry, following companies such as Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix, which have already pulled in legions of loyal users, in part due to their efforts to produce their original content. Other media conglomerates are jumping in as well: Disney, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. have all announced their own platforms, which will launch this year and next.
Apple is preparing an assortment of original shows for launch, with high-profile creators like Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, and Oprah Winfrey already lined up. It’s not yet clear however if Apple will have any third-party shows or movies, and first-party video so far appears aimed at U.S. audiences, whereas Netflix targets cultures worldwide. Apple’s launch regions are still unannounced.
More details about Apple’s plans, such as pricing, are likely at an iPhone event in September.
