It's no secret that smaller streaming services are struggling to make a profit in a market dominated by Netflix. Even platforms backed by financial giants like Disney or Apple have taken a few years to turn a profit, or are still struggling to do so. The truth is that even the biggest entertainment or technology companies cannot operate at a loss indefinitely.

With this in mind, Apple TV+ needs to consider a change in strategy. According to Bloomberg, Apple Vice President Eddy Cue has been putting increasing pressure on platform bosses to make a real change. There hasn't been enough attention paid to the fact that they are paying millions of dollars for Hollywood movies from famous directors and original productions, but later those titles can't make it at the box office or they don't bring in enough subscribers.

Apple TV+ has spent a lot of money without coming close to the market position of its biggest competitor. According to the latest data from Nielsen, Netflix accounts for 8.4% of TV viewing in the US. That's less than YouTube, but more than Amazon Prime Video (3.1%), Hulu (3%) and Disney+ (2%) combined. By comparison, Apple TV+ accounted for only 0.2% of views, so the difference and advantage of Apple's rivals was clearly huge.

The position built up by Apple did not correspond to the expenditure. It's clear that the company paid USD 500 million for the rights to the films "Killers of the Flower Moon", "Napoleon" and "Argyle". None of them came close to being profitable in cinemas. At the same time, Apple TV+'s original streaming-only series have generally been well received by critics, but that doesn't reflect the interest of viewers. 72 Emmy Award nominations - that looks impressive, but it doesn't make the financial situation any better.

Apple TV+ bosses Zeck van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht have been tasked by Eddy Cue with cutting costs and finding ways to make the whole business more profitable. We can already see some changes. Apple TV+ is cancelling its series more often, showing more interest in licensing titles from rivals, and has temporarily stopped production of its most expensive titles such as Severance and Foundation.

Over the years, Apple TV+ has been known as a big spender. They've tried, but never achieved, their goal of becoming a household name and bringing viewers to their own productions. Now the big tech company needs to cut costs and stop spending recklessly on streaming. Apple makes a lot more money from selling new iPhones than it does from the Apple TV+ service.

Looking at its plans for the near future, Apple will be spending a lot on things like The Morning Show, its series and movies. Although van Amburg and Erlicht have direct orders to save money, the changes may not be good enough to turn a profit. As they say, the growing streaming market is necessary for Apple to sell more devices because people are using them to watch VOD platforms, but that argument may not be enough for the big tech giant. Apple TV+ simply has to find ways to become profitable.

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