Apple TV Plus could be huge if the price is right

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Apple (AAPL) on Monday debuted its long-awaited video streaming service. Called Apple TV Plus, the offering will feature shows and movies from a host of big-name Hollywood talent ranging from Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg to Reese Witherspoon and Jason Momoa.

We got only got a taste of the kind of content we can expect from the service, provided via a mashup of trailers for the various shows announced during the event. And while we found out that Apple TV Plus will be available starting this fall across both Apple devices and third-party smart TVs and streaming players, we are still waiting for the company to announce the service’s most crucial element of all — its price.

If that price hits a sweet spot for consumers, the service could be a certified hit. But if the price comes in too high, it could struggle to fight off established players like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, not to mention upcoming services like Disney’s (DIS) Disney Plus.

Pricing will be key

While Apple debuted its service and gave us a general time frame for its launch, we’re still waiting to learn how much it will cost consumers. A new note from Jefferies suggests that Apple will have “limited pricing power given the small content library at launch.”

Credit: David Foster/Yahoo Finance
Credit: David Foster/Yahoo Finance

It may need to undercut its competitors, one of which has started charging consumers more: In January, Netflix (NFLX) raised its price on all three of its plans. The Basic offering went from $7.99 to $8.99, the Standard plan went from $10.99 to $12.99, and the Premium plan went from $13.99 to $15.99.

Hulu, meanwhile, lowered the price on the ad-supported version of its service from $7.99 to $5.99 in January, seemingly in response to Netflix’s price increases. The company’s ad-free version stayed at $11.99 per month. Then there’s Amazon’s (AMZN) Prime Video, which costs $8.99 without an Amazon Prime subscription.

Netflix may be the best deal among all streaming options; it offers a seemingly endless supply of content that makes its price tag seem almost too good to be true. If Apple’s service is going to compete with its contemporaries, it’s going to have to price it accordingly. If the company charges too much, viewers will opt to stick with Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon.

Apple unveils Apple TV Plus streaming service with Hollywood heavyweights
Apple CEO Tim Cook unveils the company's Apple TV Plus streaming service.

Apple likely already understands this. When it rolled out its Apple Music streaming service in 2015, the company priced it at $9.99 per month and $14.99 for a family plan, the same price as competitor Spotify’s (SPOT) plans.

Spotify, though, also throws in Hulu’s ad-supported service with its $9.99 plan, but you can all but guarantee that Apple will do the same with its music and video services.