Apple will partner with Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator, to offer Apple TV+ and Apple Music for free to Airtel’s premium customers. This strategic move gives Apple access to a vast pool of potential users in the world’s most populous country, where it currently has a small presence in the $28 billion media and entertainment market.
The Indian streaming landscape is highly competitive, dominated by players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and JioCinema. Apple TV+, known for its original content such as “Ted Lasso” and “The Morning Show,” differentiates itself by focusing on in-house productions rather than offering a extensive library of third-party content.
This partnership comes at a time of significant changes in the Indian media market, including the $8.5 billion merger between Reliance and Walt Disney’s Indian media assets, which is currently under antitrust scrutiny. The deal with Airtel allows Apple to potentially reach a substantial portion of Airtel’s 281 million subscribers, though still behind Reliance Jio’s 489 million users.
Airtel plans to bundle Apple TV+ with its premium WiFi and postpaid plans. The financial details of the partnership have not been disclosed.
In terms of pricing, Apple TV+ currently costs 99 Indian rupees ($1.18) per month in India, while Apple Music is priced at the same rate. This is competitive compared to other streaming services in the market, such as JioCinema, which offers plans as low as 29 rupees ($0.35) a month, and Netflix, which starts at 149 rupees ($1.78) monthly.
Cricket content is a significant driver for streaming platforms in India. Disney lost millions of Indian users last year when it lost the streaming rights for the Indian Premier League to Reliance. This highlights the importance of sports content in attracting and retaining subscribers in the Indian market.
Apple’s smartphone market share in India is relatively small at 6% of the 690 million users, with the market primarily dominated by Android-powered devices from manufacturers such as Samsung and Xiaomi. This partnership with Airtel may potentially help Apple increase its footprint in the Indian digital services market, leveraging Airtel’s large customer base to promote its content offerings.
