Apple Reportedly Going Hollywood, With $1B Original Content Investment

In many ways, Apple is already present in the movie industry, what with Apple TV, iTunes, and with the smart products allowing for movie streaming. However, it seems the Cupertino firm is planning a more direct participation in the video production business since it is reportedly setting aside $1 billion to make original content.

It seems producing original video content is all the rage in the tech industry these days, with everyone from Facebook to Amazon dabbling in the sphere that used to belong to giant movie studios. The reports that Apple is also dipping its fingers in these waters originate from The Wall Street Journal, which published an article about the considerable sum the company is setting aside for movie production.

There has been no official confirmation, of course, but this is fairly typical of Apple. Instead, insiders who are familiar with the matter are giving out the goods, which seems to indicate that the iPhone maker really is serious about becoming a Hollywood player.

With its natural global presence and a marketable brand name, there’s no shortage of possibilities for Apple if it does decide to go big in the movie industry. With the right IPs, directors, and actors, it could even put up a nice fight against consumer darling, Netflix.

More to the point, it makes a lot of sense for Apple to start investing in the original content sphere since the rental service it has going on with iTunes is just not working anymore. As The Verge reports, revenue in this area has dropped by 50 percent since 2012. Clearly, the subscription-based services offered by Netflix and Amazon are taking their toll.

In addition, Apple actually has experience in producing some original content videos, such as Planet of the Apps. On the other hand, documentaries are not exactly all the rage, especially when compared to serialized IPs like House of Cards.