Why did Apple suddenly bring Apple Music to rival Samsung TV?

In a rather special development, Apple decided to bring 2 Apple Music services to Samsung TV models. Thus, Samsung has become the first smart TV brand to own Apple music service, quite fully converging digital entertainment services (television and music) from Apple.

Everyone knows that Samsung and Apple are fierce rivals in the mobile market and in many other markets. Even Samsung’s TVs use the Tizen operating system developed separately, requiring Apple to build applications for a rather strange platform.

So, why did Apple take this unexpected step? There are 3 reasons that we can think of.

Samsung TVs dominate the market

Prior to Apple Music, Tim Cook’s company had brought Apple TV + service to Samsung’s QLED lines. The Apple TV app is synchronized with Samsung’s smart TV service with several Universal Guide, Bixby and search functions that will create a consistent experience on Samsung devices.

Last year, Samsung was also the first smart TV platform that Apple chose to “send” to the Apple TV service.

In other words, Apple really refined the service experience on Samsung TVs. This is entirely understandable, because Samsung TVs are No. 1 in the global market with a market share of up to 30.9% in 2019 (IHS data). With this market share, Samsung outsold LG’s TVs and tripled Sony TVs, the two companies standing in the next two positions in the rankings.

Particularly in the high-end segment, Samsung even accounts for a market share of up to 52.4%. The statistics show that Korean QLED TV is the number 1 choice of high-end users – also the traditional user group of Apple. If Apple Music wants to better serve its wealthy customers, it is clear that Tim Cook’s company must include the service on QLED TVs.

Apple prioritizes service

Of course, Apple still has the option of not putting Apple Music on rival hardware and sacrificing a large portion of digital service revenue from the general TV market. But such a move would not be in line with the direction of the Apple: increasingly promoting digital service revenue.

Putting Apple Music on QLED TV is an indispensable choice in the vision of promoting Apple service revenue.

By the fourth quarter of 2019, the service has become Apple’s second-largest sales business, behind only the iPhone. The services are even higher than the Mac and iPad combined. Right now, Apple has more reason to put Apple Music on Samsung TVs: during the Covid-19 season, when many countries had to quarantine, the demand for digital services was increasing. The arrival of Apple Music will contribute to boosting the revenue of this service while iPhone, iPad and Mac sales are severely disrupted.

Apple and Samsung are not really fierce rivals

In fact, although they have been brought to court many times, Apple and Samsung are still two longtime partners. Samsung was the assembly partner for the first iPhone, Samsung was the direct production partner of the A-series chips for generations of iPhones, and Samsung is still the premium OLED display manufacturer on the thousand-dollar iPhone lines. In 2017, Samsung was said to be the only company capable of meeting Apple’s rigorous requirements for the iPhone X.

When bringing Apple TV + to Samsung TV last year, Eddy Cue – Apple’s Vice President of Software and Internet Services, did not hesitate to share: “We look forward to bringing the iTunes and AirPlay 2 experience more accessible. More customers in the world through Samsung Smart TV. IPhone, iPad and Mac users also have another way to enjoy their favorite content on the big screen in the house. ”

For service to be successful, Apple needs the support of Samsung TVs.

Obviously, despite the competition, Apple still values ​​Samsung, considering Samsung an important piece of the future picture. The appearance of Apple Music on Samsung TV is only an inevitable step that Apple will inevitably take if it wants to develop its digital services in the future.