Apple's Cue Suggests Company Won't Buy Netflix, Disney for Video
Apple suggested that it won’t acquire Netflix or Walt Disney and instead will build its own original video content.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. services chief Eddy Cue suggested the company won’t acquire Netflix Inc. or Walt Disney Co. and instead will build out its own original video content.
When asked about a possible purchase of the media giants during a talk at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, Cue noted that Apple hasn’t made huge acquisitions in the past, and said the company aims to produce a smaller number of quality shows rather than focus on quantity.
Apple has hired movie and TV industry veterans to create original videos and compete with Netflix and Amazon.com Inc. In June, Apple formally entered the race by bringing on Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, a pair of Sony Pictures TV executives. Cue said on Monday that the video team, which reports to him, has 40 people and that he spent two years looking for the right head of the group.
The executive also discussed the Apple Music subscription service. It now has 38 million paid subscribers, up from 36 million in February, and 8 million users on free trials.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in San Francisco at mgurman1@bloomberg.net, Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at lshaw31@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Molly Schuetz
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