Streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have been producing their own content for years, some of them even snatching up series from being cancelled. Even Sony has started to produce its own content for their PS4. But Apple hasn’t been in the game for some very odd reason, though its founder has been the subject of films like the one Michael Fassbender stars in, which is due for a fall release. Even with Apple TV and the many other Apple devices, we have yet to see original content produced by the technology giant.

Now according to a brand new report, Apple is in talks with companies to start producing their own original shows and films. If they follow through, and are successful in bringing us something new, this would put Apple in direct competition with the aforementioned streaming sites. More on the story below.

Variety says Apple has started preliminary conversations with various companies about original programming, but as to their content, that is still a mystery. Eddy Cue is the frontman on all things content-related to Apple, from programmers, to what we see on Apple TV, like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go, to a recent face off with Taylor Swift.

Apple’s goal is to “create development and production divisions that would churn out long-form content to stream in a bid to compete with Netflix.” Another big ticket goal is for Apple to get a firm ready and going in the next few months with the intent of being in operations next year. It’s still unclear if Apple will produce TV or movies or even both. According to the report, they were also in talks with the stars of the former hit BBC car show Top Gear. Apple ultimately lost to Amazon in a bidding war.

While producing one’s own content isn’t cheap, it’s something that Apple doesn’t necessarily have to worry about. For one thing, they have over $200 billion in cash on the corporation’s balance sheet. It should be interesting to see how Apple will approach this new business venture. For one thing, they could start off small, and then catapult themselves to larger and more riskier content once they have amassed enough of a finance from their content. However, it may take someone who is more knowledgeable at the business of running content than CEO Tim Cook. With that in mind, we should expect to hear who would be leading Apple’s division of original content within the next few months or maybe as late as next year.

Seeing how Apple has successfully adapted itself to compete with the music streaming giant Spotify, venturing into TV and films was inevitable. As aforementioned, this is still in the very early stages of negotiations, and even if talks are successful, we are not likely to see anything until a few years after Apple has figured out who will be the head of original content and what kind of content they will show.

[Source: Variety]