Apple iTunes takes just 4% of US digital video market as Netflix dominates

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Netflix is the dominant player in America's digital streaming and downloadable video market, representing 61 percent of all viewings, while Apple's iTunes is in a three-way tie for third place with 4 percent.



The NPD Group on Tuesday revealed statistics about the home video market in the U.S., and found that Netflix carries the lion's share of digital content with its Instant Watch streaming rental service. More than six out of ten digital movies watched in the U.S. are streamed via Netflix.



In second place is cable provider Comcast, which represents 8 percent of the American market. The numbers represent market share between January and February of 2011.



Apple is in third place with 4 percent, and is in a three-way tie with DirecTV and Time Warner. Apple began selling movies and TV shows on the iTunes store in 2006, and started offering movie rentals in 2008. TV show rentals for 99 cents, with limited partners, began in 2010.



The survey found that consumers know that services like iTunes have more current releases. But the convenience of Netflix ranked highest in terms of "overall shopping experience" and "value for price paid."



The NPD figures represent both rentals and purchases, but Netflix's dominance comes solely on the back of the subscription service's rentals. The company still offers discs by mail, but has aggressively expanded its Instant Watch program to a number of set top box devices, including Apple's new $99 Apple TV.



Despite Apple's 4 percent share of the digital video market, a separate survey released in February found that Apple is the market leader in terms of video sales, taking 64.5 percent of the market. That study did not count subscription services like Netflix or Hulu.



NPD's VideoWatch Digital tracking service found that digital video now makes up a quarter of all home video-watching volume. But sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs are still the big money earners for Hollywood. The poll was based on 10,618 completed online surveys of U.S. consumers age 13 and older.



"Overwhelmingly digital movie buyers do not believe physical discs are out of fashion," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. "But their digital transactions were motivated by the immediate access and ease of acquisition provided by streaming and downloading digital video files."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 112
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Subscription music = Fail.



    Subscription video = Win.



    It's just that simple, people...
  • Reply 2 of 112
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    On May 2 AT&T begins capping residential DSL data to control the "bandwidth hogs." That ought to put the brakes on Netflix and iTunes streaming in short order. Gotta protect that u-verse revenue stream don't you know.
  • Reply 3 of 112
    timuscatimusca Posts: 123member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    On May 2 AT&T begins capping residential DSL data to control the "bandwidth hogs." That ought to put the brakes on Netflix and iTunes streaming in short order. Gotta protect that u-verse revenue stream don't you know.



    Residential DSL will be capped at 150GB. That's way more than you'll need in a month for a HEAVY Netflix watcher.



    I'm not supporting AT&T's decision in any way, but they're doing this to stop the torrenters who download 100 movies a month. It's very unlikely that it'll affect you or anyone you know. According to AT&T, we're talking less than 2%.
  • Reply 4 of 112
    maccherrymaccherry Posts: 924member
    And all the money from different sources goes o the same damn people!
  • Reply 5 of 112
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member
    Yeah, 250GB is a LOT.



    Anyways, it's not surprising that Netflix is far in the lead. I pay $9/month, and can watch as many movies on streaming as I want to. Granted, most of the ones I want to see they don't offer on streaming, but still.
  • Reply 6 of 112
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by simonsharks View Post


    I wish there was a Netflix style service in the UK, the Apple TV is a great box but suffers from a real lack of content. Apple needs to hurry up and get more services, like the BBC iPlayer, on this thing.



    And I wish we could get the iPlayer here in the States.
  • Reply 7 of 112
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Maybe a good acquisition for Apple? Just over 10 Billion. ... iFlix?
  • Reply 8 of 112
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by John.B View Post


    Subscription music = Fail.



    Subscription video = Win.



    It's just that simple, people...



    Unless you're willing to cut the cable cord, iTunes TV downloads and Amazon VOD TV downloads just don't make much sense for anything more than the occasional missed episode that you can't find on demand or on a network's web site.
  • Reply 9 of 112
    gwlaw99gwlaw99 Posts: 134member
    Hard to compete with a service that is free. For most users this is just a bonus to their Netflix DVD subscription or streaming only for $9 a month.
  • Reply 10 of 112
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by John.B View Post


    Subscription music = Fail.



    Subscription video = Win.



    It's just that simple, people...



    Couldn't agree more. Who the hell wants to line their walls with DVD's? Rent, view, move on. Or, with netflix, view and view again to your hearts content. I always thought it was odd that Apple didn't get this right. Maybe they did but met with too much resistance from the studios. Netflix, as a little insignificant upstart snuck in the back door while everyone was worrying about falling into the clutches of iTunes and its master.
  • Reply 11 of 112
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,631member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by John.B View Post


    Subscription music = Fail.



    Subscription video = Win.



    It's just that simple, people...



    Ageed. I'll pay $10 a month to watch movies because I watch them once then move on. But music I listen to over and over (and all over... Car, house, garage, gym, etc.) So I gotta own it!



    C'mon, Apple! Give us unlimited movies and tv shows for $10 a month! if Netflix can so it, so can you!
  • Reply 12 of 112
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TimUSCA View Post


    Residential DSL will be capped at 150GB. That's way more than you'll need in a month for a HEAVY Netflix watcher.



    I'm not supporting AT&T's decision in any way, but they're doing this to stop the torrenters who download 100 movies a month. It's very unlikely that it'll affect you or anyone you know. According to AT&T, we're talking less than 2%.



    I'm an AT&T U-verse customer and use it for Internet access. I'm eager to see how AT&T will be reporting or allowing me to monitor my usage. 150GB feels like a big number.



    I stream from Netflix, use iTunes for TV series and Digital Copy from Blu-ray combos, use MobileMe to share files and galleries, stream every Yankees game I can, and more. I'm not opposed to a pay by use because I'm reducing my cable subscription with each advancement in on-demand Internet based service; add to that I know that I use the Net more than most but less than many. I wonder what the usage is for those top 2%.



    Now then, my area has plenty of competition for cable/satellite & Internet.
  • Reply 13 of 112
    I like having a choice.



    I love the Netflix streaming service through my Apple TV, but I also buy movies from iTunes fairly often-- especially kids movies or movies/tv series we like that aren't on Netflix. It's been years since I purchased a physical disk, and frankly I hope never to dop so again.



    I like the combination. Netflix is good for watching older shows that typically get re-run on cable frequently, with the occasional fairly new release. But when there's something new that I missed in theaters, iTunes normally has it. If either Apple offered a streaming service or Netflix offered a rent/buy service for newer videos, it would be a killer service.



    I love Apple TV, but I wish I could BUY movies there as well-- buying one movie at a time and letting it copy back to the iTunes library like the old Apple TV is the way to go. It has 8gb flash storage...
  • Reply 14 of 112
    stevetimstevetim Posts: 482member
    the appleTV netflix app is just amazing.
  • Reply 15 of 112
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stevetim View Post


    the appleTV netflix app is just amazing.



    Yeah, got an ATV2 just a few days ago, and I'm loving it.



    I do have to be careful where I point the remote, though, as my iMac is at a ~90-deg. angle from where my ATV2 is. A couple times I was trying to play a movie, and the Beatles started playing.
  • Reply 16 of 112
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AaronJ View Post


    And I wish we could get the iPlayer here in the States.



    I read a week or so ago that iPlayer is going global. It said in the US it will be < $10 per month.



    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...al-iplayer-app



    I'll be interested to see exactly what will be included (rights issues), but I'd pay $10 for this.
  • Reply 17 of 112
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AaronJ View Post


    And I wish we could get the iPlayer here in the States.



    BBC announced iPlayer will be coming soon to non-UK countries, but you will have to pay the equivalent of the UK license fee. Still pretty appealing.



    But yeah, AppleTV needs content. MLB is great, but keep'em comin' !
  • Reply 18 of 112
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MattBookAir View Post


    BBC announced iPlayer will be coming soon to non-UK countries, but you will have to pay the equivalent of the UK license fee. Still pretty appealing.



    But yeah, AppleTV needs content. MLB is great, but keep'em comin' !



    This is what I've been calling for for years! YAY! I'm totally willing to pay the fee.



    Thank you.
  • Reply 19 of 112
    zoolookzoolook Posts: 657member
    iTunes really doesn't need to dominate this market, but Apple needs to make sure that the providers on available on all of its devices. It makes no sense that I can get Hulu Plus on my iPad and iPhone, as well as my Mac, but not Apple TV, for example.



    I love Netflix, but the picture quality isn't great on streaming (worse than iTunes HD in most cases) and the servers seem to be strained recently. Sunday evenings for example is really bad
  • Reply 20 of 112
    xsuxsu Posts: 401member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TimUSCA View Post


    Residential DSL will be capped at 150GB. That's way more than you'll need in a month for a HEAVY Netflix watcher.



    I'm not supporting AT&T's decision in any way, but they're doing this to stop the torrenters who download 100 movies a month. It's very unlikely that it'll affect you or anyone you know. According to AT&T, we're talking less than 2%.



    Yes it will affect you. Right now before you watch a movie, you just think what you want to watch. With the cap, you'll first want to know how many GB would it take. Then nearing end of a month, you'll try to remember if you are close to the limit or not. If you have multiple computers, and multiple users accessing data, you'll have a great time trying to sum up everything before watching a movie.
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