Apple Event Highlights: Apple launches AppleTV+, Apple News+, Apple Card and Apple Arcade services

The new video service is expected to have original TV shows and movies that reportedly cost Apple more than $1 billion — far less than Netflix and HBO spend every year.

Also expected is a subscription service consisting of news, entertainment and sports bundled from newspapers and magazines.

Apple is making the announcements at its Cupertino, California, headquarters during an event likely to be studded with Hollywood celebrities.

The iPhone has long been Apple's marquee product and main money maker, but sales are starting to decline. The company is pushing digital subscriptions as it searches for new growth.

Making must-have TV shows and movies that are watchable on any device has propelled Netflix into a force in both Silicon Valley and Hollywood.

But Apple remained focused on making on gadgets: iPhones, iPads, computers and its Apple TV streaming box for TVs. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs began toying with the idea of building a powerful TV business, but he couldn't pull it off before his death in 2011.

It has taken his successor, CEO Tim Cook, nearly eight years to draw up the script that the company will now try to execute.

"Apple is very late to this game," eMarketer analyst Paul Verna said. "Netflix has become the gold standard in how to create and distribute content, using all the data they have about their viewers." Netflix's prowess has attracted 139 million subscribers worldwide. But Apple will have several other deep-pocketed competitors fighting for consumers' dollars. Amazon has also become a formidable force in video streaming. Walt Disney Co. is launching its own service this year, armed with an imposing library that became more formidable with its purchase of 21st Century Fox's films and TV series. AT&T is debuting another streaming service built around HBO.

Apple has plenty of money to spend, though, with about $245 billion in cash and marketable securities. It must prove itself attractive to Hollywood even without a track record for supporting high-quality programming and then ensuring it gets widely seen.

As part of its efforts to make quick connections, Apple hired two longtime Sony television executives, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, in 2017. They have reportedly signed up stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Jennifer Aniston.

In a departure from its core domain, Apple is expected to launch a new video streaming service to take on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime on March 25. The keynote event will take place at the Steve Jobs Theatre at 10 am Pacific Time (10.30 pm IST). Staff at Apple have reportedly been calling the new streaming service a ‘Netflix killer’.

Apple has learnt from prior mistakes – Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke – by hiring outside executives from big-name studios. The tech giant has gathered a plethora of talent to take on household names like Netflix and Amazon.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will reportedly bundle HBO, Straz and Showtime along with its streaming service for only USD 9.99 per month. However, recent rumours suggest that Apple will offer a 3-month trial period for their new service with different subscription plans depending on the resolution setting you select - 4K or FHD.

Apple will also include tons of original content from sci-fi films to comedies with a star-studded line-up of talented performers. Apple is also reported to have spent USD 1 billion on original content with names such as M Night Shyamalan, Oprah Winfrey, Damian Chazelle and several others.

Apple’s streaming service will likely be accessible to all users, regardless of the device; now that’s something you don’t hear every day. While the streaming service will be brought to users on iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, and the Safari browser on Macs and Windows PCs, you can also expect to see it built into the latest televisions as brands like Sony, Samsung and LG already feature support for existing Apple streaming services.

Today, Apple is looking beyond its traditional approach of unveiling products. Apple wants to be a services company and to succeed as a services company; Apple cannot afford to limit the availability of its services to iPhone and Mac users only. As Apple is competing with the likes of Netflix – which can be consumed on almost any device with a screen – exclusivity will be something that the tech giant cannot afford.