Jordan Ostreff

Jordan Ostreff

Apple Dominates Authenticated ‘TV Everywhere’ Streaming With 62% Market Share [iOS Blog]

A new report out today by Adobe Digital Index (ADI) put Apple atop a list of streaming media providers (via CMO), the Apple TV and iOS devices representing 62 percent of all authenticated pay-for-TV video views, or any online app that requires a cable subscription to access. Measuring all video content from free ad-based YouTube clips to "shows accessed through an authenticated app-based or TV subscription service," ADI reports that the streaming industry as a whole has grown a drastic 282 percent year over year.

Focusing solely on Apple, the Apple TV doubled its share of the overall online media streaming market, growing from 5 percent to 10 percent quarter over quarter. As ADI points out, a few of Apple's streaming rivals - Roku and gaming consoles like Xbox and PlayStation - saw increases in the past year, as well.


"Apple is sitting in the catbird seat because of its dominant position with access to consumers and a wealth of video data,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst at ADI. “The challenge will be to see if it can monetize the strategy fast enough to get ahead of the movement away from linear TV toward digital viewing. Apple is clearly looking to play in the video-streaming market, and the growth of that market is a big indicator as to why.”
On the opposite end, these mobile- and living room-centric media solutions have cannibalized the streaming shares of desktop PCs and Macs. “It looks like desktops are losing the battle in the home," Gaffney noted. "Bringing the TV Everywhere viewing platform full circle and returning viewers to the living room.”

iOS saw a less dramatic increase year over year than the Apple TV, with a growth from 43 percent to 47 percent, while the company's Android competitors saw no growth at all on mobile, staying at a consistent 15 percent share of the streaming market. Although desktops are dipping in streaming popularity, notebooks are undoubtedly still a highly used source of streaming content for many people. As such, Google Chrome and Safari both saw upticks in pieces of the overall streaming market over the past year by 18 and 15 percent, respectively.


The key takeaway from our analysis is that the streaming video space is growing fast, and Apple is growing by building out an ecosystem of devices as it relates to that space,” Gaffney said. “Apple is leaning toward having a bigger play there than in the past. For marketers that means having a blanket approach to advertising is not going to work. They need to think about who is viewing and when. The strategy needs to be evolving and more complex to match the evolving and more complex nature of the landscape.”
ADI predicts that smartphone browsing will overtake that of desktops in 2017, noting that currently the preferred method for casually streaming content is tablets, "used specifically for leisurely activities such as video viewing and listening to music." With Apple's revamped Apple TV a no-show at WWDC next week, it'll be interesting to see how the company continues to grow the now three-year-old device. With Apple's plans to launch its own subscription television service sometime in the future, there's no doubt that the streaming media industry as a whole will only continue to grow.







Apple Again Places #5 in Annual Fortune 500 Rankings

Fortune has released its annual Fortune 500 list of the top U.S. corporations based on gross revenue, which together accounted for $12.5 trillion in revenues, $945 billion in profits and $17 trillion in market value. Apple maintained the 5th spot in the rankings for the second consecutive year after steadily rising from 6th place in 2013, 17th place in 2012, 35th place in 2011 and 56th place in 2010.

"After a bumpy start to 2014, Apple's stock finished the year up 40%, adding nearly $200 billion to the company's market value. A product pipeline that's gotten Apple fanboys lining up all over again has certainly helped reenergize revenue growth: In addition to unveiling new categories like Apple Pay and Apple Watch, the company launched the iPhone 6, selling a record-breaking 10 million units in the first three days. As CEO Tim Cook recently told investors: "It's tough to find something in the numbers not to like." The normally low-profile Cook is breaking new ground in other ways too—in October, 2014 he came out as the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company."
Fortune identified fast-growing iPhone and Mac sales and brand power as two of the company's key strengths, while citing declining iPad sales and high expectations from investors and consumers as weaknesses. The publication believes Apple's much-rumored streaming TV service presents an opportunity for the company, while Android and Chinese smartphone manufacturers remain threats.

Apple recorded operating revenue of $182.79 billion during the 2014 fiscal year, a 7% year-over-year increase. Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Berkshire Hathaway topped the list with between $194.6 and $485.6 billion revenue, although it's worth noting that Apple finished ahead of all four of those companies with $39.5 billion in profit and recently posted two record-breaking quarters.