Apple Is Raising Subscription Prices. There Could Be More Where That Came From.

The price to watch programs likeThe Morning Show or Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ was raised to $9.99 a month from $6.99. Apple Arcade now costs $6.99 a month, up from $4.99, while Apple News+ went to $12.99 a month from $9.99.

Prices for a bundle of the subscription services also were increased. New subscribers of these services will immediately be charged the higher prices while existing subscribers will see price increases in 30 days.

“We are focused on delivering the best experiences possible for our customers by consistently adding high-quality entertainment, content, and innovative features to our services,” Apple said in a statement to Barron’s.

Shares of Apple were down 1% Wednesday to $171.75. The stock has gained 32% this year.

The price to stream movies and TV shows has been getting more expensive.
Netflix
(NFLX) increased the U.S. monthly price of its Premium and Basic plans last week.
Walt Disney
(DIS) raised the price of the Disney+ Premium plan this month, and Discovery+, owned by parent
Warner Bros. Discovery
(WBD), raised the price of its ad-free monthly subscriptions on Oct. 3.

Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani thinks that Apple’s price hikes on its subscription services are just the first to come.

“Price increases are an underappreciated upside lever Apple can pull on both products and services going forward,” Daryanani said.

“We expect Apple to continue to raise the price as even at the new price of $9.99 it trails some of its competitors like Netflix ($15.49) and Max ($15.99),” Daryanani added. He rates the stock as Outperform with a price target of $210.

Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]