One analyst is betting Apple's (AAPL 2.21%) rumored streaming TV service, which is expected to be unveiled at an event later this month, could ultimately contribute as much as $10 billion in annual revenue to the tech giant's business. Indeed, if Apple executes well with its rumored streaming TV service, shares could be worth significantly more than their $182 price at the time of this writing, according to this analyst.
This bullish commentary about Apple's potential in streaming TV comes from Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. Here's a look at his outlook for Apple's TV service -- and why it matters.
Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Apple.
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100 million subscribers
"We think it's a potential game changer," said Wedbush tech analyst Daniel Ives in a CNBC Squawk Alley interview earlier this week when discussing Apple's rumored streaming TV service.
A streaming TV service from Apple is all but certain, as the company's invitations to its event on March 25 included the telling tag line: "It's show time." Adding this tag line to the chatter in the ever-active Apple rumor mill and the launch of streaming TV service at Apple's event is extremely likely.
Ives believes Apple's streaming TV service could attract, impressively, as many as 100 million subscribers over the next few years, assuming the service's rollout goes well and the company becomes an aggressive buyer of content.
Ives cites Apple's massive installed base of users as a key addressable market for achieving 100 million subscribers over the next few years. In Apple's most recent earnings call, management said the company's installed base of active devices increased from 1.3 billion at the end of January 2018 to 1.4 billion by the end of December.
Apple has credited its large install base as a key catalyst for its services business. "Not only is our large and growing install base a powerful testament to the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers, but it's also fueling our fast-growing services business," said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company's fiscal 2019 first-quarter earnings call.
Ives sees a well-executed streaming TV service eventually contributing $7 billion to $10 billion in annual revenue for the company, while improving the attractiveness and customer retention of Apple's overall ecosystem. If Apple can pull this off, Ives believes shares could appreciate to $215.
Beefing up its services business
A new streaming TV service fits into Apple's growing effort to build out its services business.
Along with Apple's rumored TV service, the company is expected to launch a subscription-based news service at its event this month. This would give Apple an opportunity to monetize a portion of its 85 million monthly active users of its Apple News app. Together, new streaming TV and news subscription services would bolster Apple's services segment and help the company become less reliant on its iPhone, which has been seeing declining sales.
One hundred million subscriptions for an Apple-branded streaming TV service may not be as crazy as it might first seem. Including its third-party apps, Apple currently has 360 million paid subscriptions across its services portfolio -- up 120 million year over year. In addition, Apple Music alone has over 50 million paid subscribers.
