Roger Fingas
Apple is reportedly among several companies in talks to buy up the complete film and music library of Eros Group, an Indian movie production studio with a number of famous Bollywood hits.
Negotiations are in "very early stages," Reuters said on Monday, citing a source. Other companies vying for Eros content are believed to include Amazon and Netflix, which have been trying to snap up Indian exclusives since launching their video platforms in the country last year.
Sources for India's Economic Times separately claimed that the sale could be worth up to $1 billion. The Reuters source suggested however that the Eros library isn't worth that much, and that Apple in particular is unlikely to spend heavily.
The company would benefit from offering the material on iTunes, as Eros has over 3,000 movies, which might help lure Indian customers into the Apple ecosystem. The iPhone controls just 3 percent of the Indian smartphone market, mostly because of its high cost.
A deal might also increase the appeal of a fifth-generation Apple TV, both in India and for Bollywood fans in general. Eros already offers a subscription service on the set-top (and other platforms) called Eros Now, but hosting on iTunes would mean the ability to rent or buy individual titles.
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5 Comments
Sounds erotic.
3000 movies.. Reuters report is negative.
Eros has a huge catalogue with some prestigious titles. This would be a good buy for Apple.
Amazon and Netflix are in a real race to create original content here. They are already picking up exclusives with well-known stand-up comedians and are approaching big directors and actors for original content.
I think these events are triggering Apple to also fast-track the content play here.
Apple's cost of that Billion Dollars, is approximately $30M per year.
If they get rights for 3000 movies at $30M per year, that's effectively, $10K per movie per year!
Just offering this catalog to the Indian community in the US should be more than enough to recoup the $10K per year! The Billion plus Indians in India are just the icing on the cake.
This is a no-brainer transaction for a cash-rich company looking to get a strong foothold in the Indian market.