News
Apple sending out free iTunes Movie Rental codes?
By Charles Starrett
Contributing Editor
Published: Tuesday, December 7, 2010
News Categories: Apple, iTunes
Apple has started sending out free iTunes Movie Rental codes to select iTunes users, according to a new report. Citing an email received by a reader, 9 to 5 Mac reports that the included code is good for one rental from iTunes’ library of over 8,500 movies, and that the distribution of the codes seems to be random. Most likely, Apple is attempting to use the promotion to raise awareness of Movie Rentals on the iTunes Store, perhaps hoping to boost sales of the second-generation Apple TV in the process.
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1
I just can’t get into AppleTV rentals, to be honest. Prices are ridiculous compared to Netflix, which I have on my PS3, or Redbox, which is just down the street. Apple needs to really be more competitive with their prices, which are more than likely dictated by the movie companies. Although I do watch movies on my AppleTV, they are ones I own and have imported into iTunes, not rentals. I find myself watching more podcast on my AppleTV than anything else actually.
Posted by Damon Sharp on December 7, 2010 at 7:36 AM (PST)
2
Apple needs to come up with a monthly subscription, with a competitive price similar to Netflix if they want to be the more popular choice.
I continue to use Netflix, despite it’s somewhat lousy selection, simply because it’s $8/month for unlimited viewing.
We’re talking about digital distribution here, not physical DVDs in a store. Charging the same amount to ‘rent’ (stream) a movie as it costs to rent from an actual store is just not realistic.
If they were to offer a $9.99/month unlimited ‘rentals’ plan, with the selection that they have, I think they could potentially dominate the market.
As it stands right now? No thanks, I’ll hold onto my money.
Posted by Kloan in Toronto, ON on December 7, 2010 at 1:30 PM (PST)
3
@ #2, I agree that a monthly subscription model is needed for Apple to make its iTunes rental offering more attractive
Netflix streaming is quite good, and they just introduced a “streaming-only” type account for $8/mo (vs. a [new] minimum $12/mo for DVD+streaming), but as you pointed out the selection is somewhat limited. If Apple could stream everything in their catalog (can they?) they probably could get away with charging even more than the $10/mo you’re proposing due to the greater selection.
Posted by rockmyplimsoul on December 7, 2010 at 4:54 PM (PST)
4
Actually, here in Canada, Netflix is streaming-only already, but the selection is extremely limited compared to the U.S. I’m currently using a combination of both iTunes Movie Rentals and Netflix based on wherever I can find a given movie. I don’t find the rental prices to be all that unreasonable, since they’re comparable to the on-demand services offered by cable providers and a lot more convenient than a trip to the local Rogers Video.
Posted by Jesse Hollington in Toronto on December 8, 2010 at 7:37 AM (PST)