CES 2019: Enemies No More? Apple Brings iTunes to Samsung TVs
(Samsung/Apple)(January 8, 2019) One of the more shocking announcements from CES 2019 is a new joint partnership between Apple and its bitter rival, Samsung. As of this spring, Samsung Smart TVs will offer an iTunes app that allows owners to watch iTunes movies and TV shows that they currently own or plan to purchase or rent. And to deepen the intrigue, content can be controlled by Samsung’s rival voice assistant, Bixby, while Samsung’s TVs will carry Apple AirPlay 2 for streaming of videos, pictures, podcasts, and music from Apple Devices.
“We pride ourselves on working with top industry leaders to deliver the widest range of content services to our Smart TV platform,” said Won-Jin Lee, Executive Vice President, Service Business of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. “Bringing more content, value and open platform functionality to Samsung TV owners and Apple customers through iTunes and AirPlay is ideal for everyone.”
Perhaps the great Dr. Peter Venkman said it best: “Dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria!”
This unlikely marriage of competing ecosystems is yet another sign that Apple knows its platform is doomed if it can only be accessed by Apple products. According to a recent analysis by nScreenMedia, Apple TV’s North American usage numbers are poor when compared the competition, lagging far behind other devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Smart TVs (in general). Some analysts predict that Apple will launch a new streaming service later this fall.