A Minus for Apple TV+ Apple loses $1B a year on prestigious, minimally viewed Apple TV+: report The Information report claims notable losses for Apple's only service in the red. Scharon Harding Mar 20, 2025 5:32 pm | 24 A scene from the Apple TV+ show Severance. Credit: Apple A scene from the Apple TV+ show Severance. Credit: Apple Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe Apple TV+ streaming service is losing more than $1 billion annually, according to The Information today.The report also claimed that Apple TV+s subscriber count reached around 45 million in 2024, citing the two anonymous sources.Ars reached out to Apple for comment on the accuracy of The Informations report and will update you if we hear back.Per one of the sources, Apple TV+ has typically spent over $5 billion annually on content since 2019, when Apple TV+ debuted. Last year, though, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly cut the budget by about $500 million. The reported numbers are similar to a July report from Bloomberg that claimed that Apple had spent over $20 billion on Apple TV+s library. For comparison, Netflix has 301.63 million subscribers and expects to spend $18 billion on content in 2025.In the year preceding Apple TV+s debut, Apple services chief Eddy Cue reportedly pushed back on executive requests to be stingier with content spending, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told The Information.But Cook started paying closer attention to Apple TV+s spending after the 2022 Oscars, where the Apple TV+ original CODA won Best Picture. The award signaled the significance of Apple TV+ as a business.Per The Information, spending related to Apple TV+ previously included lavish perks for actors and producers. Apple paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per flight to transport Apple TV+ actors and producers to promotional events, The Information said, noting that such spending is common in Hollywood" but "more unusual at Apple. Apples finance department reportedly pushed Apple TV+ executives to find better flight deals sometime around 2023.In 2024, Cook questioned big-budget Apple TV+ films, like the $200 million Argylle, which he said failed to generate impressive subscriber boosts or viewership, per an anonymous former Apple TV+ employee. Cook reportedly cut about $500 million from the Apple TV+ content budget in 2024.Its not hard to see why Apple might want to be more frugal about streaming. Apple TV+ is a service business, which is a revenue category thats become increasingly important to Apple as customers hardware habits shift, including toward buying new iPhones less frequently. Services represented 21 percent of Apples revenue in its most recent earnings report. Apple TV+ is reportedly the only part of Apples services business thats not turning a profit. However, sources told The Information that some of Apples other services, including Apple Arcade, Apple Music, and Apple News+, are struggling with tiny margins.Limited viewershipApple TV+s library boasts prestige, but its viewership is scant, hindering its ability to make money.According to Nielsen tracking of streaming content viewed on TVs, Apple TV+ garners less than 1 percent of monthly TV viewership typically, compared to Netflix's 8.2 percent and Max's 1.2 percent in February 2025.Apple has also been criticized for comparatively small marketing efforts for Apple TV+. For example, Apple reportedly spent $14.9 million on commercials for Apple TV+ in October 2019 versus $28.6 million on the iPhone, according to data from iSpot.TV that was reported by The New York Times.$1 billion in lossesApple TV+ being Apples only service not turning a profit isn't good, but its also expected. Like other streaming services, Apple TV+ wasn't expected to be profitable until years after its launch. An Apple TV+ employee that The Information said reviewed the streaming services business plan said Apple TV+ is expected to lose $15 billion to $20 billion during its first 10 years.For comparison, Disneys direct-to-consumer streaming business had operating losses of $11.4 billion between the launch of Disney+ in fall 2020 and April 2024. Disneys streaming business became profitable for the first time in its fiscal quarter ending on June 29, 2024.Apple is also worth nearly $4 trillion and made $93.7 billion in net income during its most recent fiscal year. That makes $1 billion in annual streaming losses manageable.Still, streaming is a huge opportunity for Apple, and even streaming newcomers that have struggled in the past are finding ways to turn profits lately. Of course, many of Apple TV+'s rivals are making ends meet with ads and price hikes. Apple TV+ doesn't have ads and hasn't increased prices since the fall of 2023 (which is a long time for a streaming service these days).Still, Apple TV+ is challenged to find a way to stand out in an increasingly competitive streaming market that includes rivals with much bigger libraries that are shifting toward mass, mainstream appeal.Today, The Information reiterated previously made claims that the initial idea behind Apple TV+ wasnt about having the most streaming subscribers but about making people more attached to the iPhone and Apple ecosystem.However, Apple may be struggling to make good on those plans, too. The tech giant appears to have gaps in its ability to share analysis about which streaming efforts work. Multiple people who worked for Apple TV+ told The Information that they didn't have data on whether or not making the Apple TV app available on non-Apple devices led to more hardware sales, as Apple thought it would.Now Apple has a streaming service with a strong but lesser-known reputation and a notable amount of losses. Apple TV+ will likely keep losing Apple money in the coming quarters, but whats most important is if Apple can communicate a clear direction for the streaming serviceboth internally and to streamers. Even the industry is unsure about Apple's streaming intentions.I dont understand it beyond a marketing play, but theyre really smart people," Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said of Apple TV+ to Variety this week. Maybe they see something we dont.Scharon HardingSenior Technology ReporterScharon HardingSenior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Toms Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 24 Comments