Editorial: Samsung hasn't copied Apple TV+ yet, but it's only a matter of time
It's not true that Samsung copies absolutely everything Apple ever does. Apart from Apple TV+, though, we're struggling to find another exception -- and there are reasons to think TV won't be safe for long, either.
Even if Samsung didn't ever release a TV service, it's already released TVs
You can take Apple's design chops, and you can take its decades of producing slick videos, but there's just one reason the company has really been able to make a television service like Apple TV+. "They're in a billion pockets, y'all."
Oprah Winfrey has now said that several times, and if the fact that Apple has sold so many devices is also why it has enough money to pay for talent, it's this ability reach more people that counts.
With cable channels now seeing much the same decline that they wrought on broadcast networks, the ability to deliver television programming to a growing market is irresistible. You just need a loyal audience, with devices that can stream video, and something for them to watch.
So start your stopwatch. Apple's longtime rival Samsung is surely coming to a screen near you, and soon.
Then if Apple is the first to form an actual television drama production studio, still both companies have years up on years of video experience.
It's hard to forget those Samsung video ads mocking Apple for removing the headphone jack, for instance, although it's now also a little hard to find them. Samsung removed those ads when it copied the removal of the headphone jack.
Nonetheless, Samsung has people experienced in shooting and delivering video. It only has them doing shortform pieces, but that's what Apple used to be best at, too.
Apple may no longer quote iPhone sales figures, and Samsung always optimistically reports numbers of phones made rather than actually sold. But both companies know to the unit how many have been bought.
Television doesn't work like that. All television channels and networks have to look at what's called the reach and the share. These plus the demographics of who is watching, and the bottom-line number of how many people tuned in, is how advertising revenue is calculated.
The reach is how many people are watching any television at all. The share is what proportion is tuned to a particular show.
Both of these figures have gone down radically over the last decades as television viewing has declined and the number of channels available has ballooned.
Whereas the reach of a smartphone has exploded.
If it's not true that everybody has an iPhone or an Android smartphone, it is true that everybody advertisers want to reach does.
Then if the incredible rise of smartphones is one factor that has persuaded Apple to go into television, the subsequent decline has become another.
Apple is increasingly moving toward providing services rather than solely making devices, and television now seems a great fit.
Right now it's still the case that having your show watchable on an iPhone is a benefit for your show. It's ultimately going to be that doing the same thing is really a benefit to iPhone sales.
It just hasn't had a model before. For once, Samsung has not had Apple both doing a service and proving it works.
For the moment, it still doesn't. Apple TV+ could flop, but that looks unlikely. Yet Apple TV+ seemed much more of a risk a few years go.
That's when Apple started working on it. That's how long it takes to create a television service that is going to offer over a billion dollars of programming to over a billion devices.
Samsung has yet to find a way to mock Apple TV+ in its adverts, but maybe that's because this time, it's already beginning to copy it.
There have been no leaks of deals with producers. No sign, yet, of Samsung buying up a library of existing shows.
There is sign of streaming video becoming a much fiercer battleground than before. When Apple TV+ was first being worked on, there were plenty cable services such as HBO and online-only offerings such as Hulu, but there were really only two contenders.
Now Netflix and Amazon Prime are about to be joined by Disney+, NBC's Peacock, Apple TV+, and more.
Samsung could be playing a long game and waiting to see which service falters and then just buy it. Yet whether it plans to buy an existing service or create one itself, Samsung is in the same position as Apple. It has the same opportunities and it has the same issues as its rival.
But, it also has something Apple does not. Samsung makes televisions.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
Even if Samsung didn't ever release a TV service, it's already released TVs
You can take Apple's design chops, and you can take its decades of producing slick videos, but there's just one reason the company has really been able to make a television service like Apple TV+. "They're in a billion pockets, y'all."
Oprah Winfrey has now said that several times, and if the fact that Apple has sold so many devices is also why it has enough money to pay for talent, it's this ability reach more people that counts.
With cable channels now seeing much the same decline that they wrought on broadcast networks, the ability to deliver television programming to a growing market is irresistible. You just need a loyal audience, with devices that can stream video, and something for them to watch.
So start your stopwatch. Apple's longtime rival Samsung is surely coming to a screen near you, and soon.
Two companies, both alike
It's easy to point to how both Apple and Samsung have cash in their pockets. They also, for much the same reason, have a very big audience with a lot of devices out there.Then if Apple is the first to form an actual television drama production studio, still both companies have years up on years of video experience.
It's hard to forget those Samsung video ads mocking Apple for removing the headphone jack, for instance, although it's now also a little hard to find them. Samsung removed those ads when it copied the removal of the headphone jack.
Nonetheless, Samsung has people experienced in shooting and delivering video. It only has them doing shortform pieces, but that's what Apple used to be best at, too.
Irresistible market
Television bases its decisions chiefly on ratings, as in how many people are watching a show. After decades of doing this, you can assume the figures are accurate but no Neilsen estimate algorithm can hold a candle to the precision by which Apple knows how many iPhones it has sold.Apple may no longer quote iPhone sales figures, and Samsung always optimistically reports numbers of phones made rather than actually sold. But both companies know to the unit how many have been bought.
Television doesn't work like that. All television channels and networks have to look at what's called the reach and the share. These plus the demographics of who is watching, and the bottom-line number of how many people tuned in, is how advertising revenue is calculated.
The reach is how many people are watching any television at all. The share is what proportion is tuned to a particular show.
Both of these figures have gone down radically over the last decades as television viewing has declined and the number of channels available has ballooned.
Whereas the reach of a smartphone has exploded.
If it's not true that everybody has an iPhone or an Android smartphone, it is true that everybody advertisers want to reach does.
Then if the incredible rise of smartphones is one factor that has persuaded Apple to go into television, the subsequent decline has become another.
Apple is increasingly moving toward providing services rather than solely making devices, and television now seems a great fit.
Right now it's still the case that having your show watchable on an iPhone is a benefit for your show. It's ultimately going to be that doing the same thing is really a benefit to iPhone sales.
Cue Samsung
All of these factors are the same for Samsung. It has the same pull of a large audience, and it has the same push of a need to provide services.It just hasn't had a model before. For once, Samsung has not had Apple both doing a service and proving it works.
For the moment, it still doesn't. Apple TV+ could flop, but that looks unlikely. Yet Apple TV+ seemed much more of a risk a few years go.
That's when Apple started working on it. That's how long it takes to create a television service that is going to offer over a billion dollars of programming to over a billion devices.
Samsung has yet to find a way to mock Apple TV+ in its adverts, but maybe that's because this time, it's already beginning to copy it.
There have been no leaks of deals with producers. No sign, yet, of Samsung buying up a library of existing shows.
There is sign of streaming video becoming a much fiercer battleground than before. When Apple TV+ was first being worked on, there were plenty cable services such as HBO and online-only offerings such as Hulu, but there were really only two contenders.
Now Netflix and Amazon Prime are about to be joined by Disney+, NBC's Peacock, Apple TV+, and more.
Samsung could be playing a long game and waiting to see which service falters and then just buy it. Yet whether it plans to buy an existing service or create one itself, Samsung is in the same position as Apple. It has the same opportunities and it has the same issues as its rival.
But, it also has something Apple does not. Samsung makes televisions.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
Comments
It is a rare thing when Samsung gets into a lawsuit with a company that has comparable financial resources to fight back. That is one way in which I admire Apple. It actively fights back against Samsung's theft of intellectual property. I made myself a vow a few years ago to NEVER buy anything made by Samsung. Doing so only encourages unethical and illegal behavior, but it stifles technology advances and puts other competitors out of business.
Samsung is a shark who swallows minnows, but with respect to Apple it is two sharks competing for food.
If true, you aren't thinking very hard. They absolutely copied Apple on early iPhones and iPads. Watch? Nope. AirPods? Nope. Modern phones and iPads? Nope. To base your editorial on Samsung's reliance on past copying is about as relevant as someone writing an editorial in 2019 based on Antennae-gate iPhone 4.
You gotta source for that little nugget? Afaik, Samsung never reported their numbers and both companies record their sales in almost the exact same way. Shipped.
I seriously doubt Samsung would introduce a streaming service. They have no reason to do so. You're right that they have the same large audience that Apple does. Though they don't have the same need for services that Apple does. Samsung is a conglomerate with multiple parts. They rely on different parts at different times to support the whole. Sometimes phones floats the boat. Sometimes it chips. Sometimes it's the S. Korean government easing punishment on Samsung execs.
It would be really surprising if Samsung debuted a streaming service. On the outside chance they did, I'd bet it would be a local streaming service where they wouldn't be bidding against established players for expensive content.
Samsung doesn’t do software well. They have Tizen... Ever see it on a phone in person?
Does Samsung have an office suite? Or, create any other software for Android? They rely on Google (3rd Party)... because they lack the ability.
Why is Apple TV+ any different? Does Samsung have deep connections with Hollywood? Film or movie producers that use Samsung’s software?
Apple TV+ is an ambitious project to produce content. Samsung isn’t going to do that. They might try to package your regular TV channels for Samsung devices...but that’s it.
Bingo. Samsung, even after more than a decade, still is pretty lousy in software development, esp. for non-Korean language/UI. There are very good reasons being so and those reasons are well entrenched into its DNA.
Samsung TV “the evening show”
Apple TV “see”
samsung TV “Look”
Apple TV “amazing stories”
samsung TV “fantasy stories”
Apple TV “Oprah’s book club”
samsung TV “Gangnam Style Comics”
Samsung has copied far too many things to even count, from products to OS, UI elements, icons, chargers, store designs, etc etc. They even pre-copied the Watch by rushing their crapola to market on the rumors of the AW. Failboat ensure (remember the creepy ad of an incel stalking his prey on the sky slopes, snapping secret photos of her on his Samsung watch? lol).
As for the iPhone 4, there was no issue. Data from AT&T showed an insignificant difference in call drops from the 3GS, but people weren't used to seeing the bars go down when their meat-bags performed a death grip on the external antenna. Jobs showed the data and that competitor products did the same thing. The real proof? They continued selling the 4 as-is for years.
sounds like both google and samsung are missing a huge opportunity
i am just going to leave this here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgIfcmDI9K4