Apple is hiring in its media group devoted to audiovisual media. After digging through the company’s job openings in recent months, an analyst believes these new employees are for the anticipated Apple TV streaming service.
This company has been paying to have TV shows and movies produced for months, but has so far kept quiet about its plans. That’s expected to change soon.
You get a job, and you get a job…
Going back to November, Apple has been on a hiring spree in its Interactive Media Group (IMG), according to Joshua Fruhlinger, an analyst with Thinknum. At one point earlier this month, this group had 42 job openings.
The IAG “is responsible for implementing software services around linear audiovisual media. This includes local media playback, video-on-demand and live streaming of multimedia content.” If that’s not enough, this analyst pointed out that Apple has had a steady stream of job openings with “streaming” in the title since 2017, and a significant rise starting last fall.
Fruhlinger takes all this as clear evidence that Apple “is busy building out the base for the company’s upcoming streaming service.”
Apple TV vs. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu
If Apple lives up to widespread expectations and launches a streaming video service, it will face tough competition from other established companies, including Netflix and Amazon. But the analyst from Thinknum sees room for optimism in the millions of people who have iPhones, Macs and iPads and currently subscribe to some Apple service.
“The company already has over 360 million paid subscribers — that’s three times higher than last year and more than Netflix’s 139 million reported subscribers. If Apple can nudge even a fraction of its 360 million subscribers to its video streaming service, it will come out of the gate positioned very, very well,” noted Fruhlinger.
Unconfirmed reports from last fall indicate the Apple TV streaming service will launch in the US during the first half of this year with all the shows it’s already ordered. A global debut will come later. The service might — or might not — be free to customers who own an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.
