As part of CCS Insight’s predictions for 2018, analysts for the firm suggest that Apple will launch a video subscription service, designed to compete with Netflix.

“Everyone is jostling for position and everyone is jumping in on the area of video. When you look at Apple, it has a very strong hardware offering and their services business is on the march,” Paolo Pescatore, vice president of multiplay and media at CCS Insight, told CNBC.

Should Apple go down the streaming video service route, CCS Insight suggests that Apple’s original content, currently in development, will play a major role.

“The real battleground is in the area of original content, but original content would feature prominent and Apple would be very well placed to do that,” Pescatore noted.

It’s not clear exactly what the firm’s predictions are based upon, although this certainly isn’t the first time such rumors have been voiced. Way back in 2011, the Wall Street Journal suggested Apple was considering attempts to launch a subscription TV service.”

During Apple’s earnings call in January, Tim Cook said that, “With our toe in the water, we are learning a lot about the original content business, and thinking about ways that we could play in that.”

Having led the pack in terms of digital video dating back to the 1980s, Apple would be a natural company to jump into this area. Although its first efforts in original content, the reality TV shows Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke: The Series, have been critical flops, Apple is supposedly readying $1 billion to spend on launching additional shows.

Initially it seemed that Apple’s original content would be exclusive to Apple Music, but more recent reports have suggested that it would be distinct from it.

Would you be willing to pay a monthly subscription to watch iTunes movies and Apple’s original shows? Do you see this happening in 2018 or will it take Apple longer to get a streaming service up and running? Let us know your predictions below.

Source: CNBC