Apple and Airtel Partner to Boost Apple Music and TV+ in India

Apple’s collaboration with India’s second-largest telecom company is set to provide a much-needed boost in the content market, where the iPhone maker currently lags behind competitors like Spotify and Walt Disney.

In an effort to increase global revenue from services such as apps, payments, and media, the U.S. tech giant plans to offer free music and video streaming to a significant portion of Bharti Airtel’s 281 million customers.

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This partnership is expected to significantly expand the user base for Apple TV+ and Apple Music in India, a market where Apple has traditionally focused on manufacturing to diversify its supply chain beyond China.

While Apple produces many of its iPhones in India, its devices account for only 6% of the country’s 690 million smartphones, up from about 2% in 2019, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

“The move highlights Apple’s ambitions for India,” said Nitesh Kripalani, former head of Amazon Prime Video in India. “This strategy is a proven method to rapidly increase presence in key markets.”

In the U.S., Apple has offered Apple Music for free through certain Verizon mobile data plans since 2019, and its Apple TV+ will be included in a Comcast streaming bundle starting in May.

In India, Apple Music will be integrated into Airtel’s premium Wynk music app, which is slated to eventually close. Approximately seven million postpaid Airtel subscribers have access to the ad-free version of Wynk, though only a small percentage currently use it, according to a telecom industry insider who requested anonymity due to confidentiality.

Both Apple and Airtel declined to comment outside regular business hours.

Music Market Competition
Apple Music, with its library of Bollywood and regional-language songs, is better tailored to the Indian market than the mostly English-language Apple TV+, although its collection is smaller than Spotify’s, according to Counterpoint co-founder Neil Shah.

Spotify has around 3 million paid users in India, Gaana has 1.4 million, Wynk has 500,000, and Apple Music has 200,000, according to an industry source who preferred to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to share the estimates publicly.

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Neither Spotify nor Gaana responded to requests for comment outside of business hours.

Overall, only about 7.5 million people in India paid for audio streaming services last year, out of roughly 185 million users of both ad-supported and ad-free apps, according to data from the industry group FICCI and consultants EY.

Airtel will pay Apple a per-user fee that is “significantly” lower than the $1.20 monthly fee Apple typically charges for Apple TV+ and Apple Music in India, according to the telecom industry insider.

In return, Airtel will save millions of rupees in licensing costs as it phases out Wynk and uses Apple Music to drive revenue and enhance customer loyalty, said a second telecom industry source.

“Airtel recognized that its strength lies in distribution, not content creation,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

Video Streaming
Apple remains a minor player in the Indian video streaming market, with fewer than one million users, according to Counterpoint. Disney+ Hotstar leads with 38 million users, while Netflix has around 10 million.

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Netflix has expressed its ambition to reach 100 million users in India, though it has not set a specific timeline.

Apple TV+ is known for original series like “The Morning Show” and “Slow Horses,” but competitors like Netflix and Disney offer more Hindi content, including Bollywood productions and regional-language films.

Disney and Reliance Industries’ JioCinema also broadcast cricket, India’s most popular sport. The two companies are merging their Indian media assets to form the country’s largest entertainment firm.

Airtel, which ranks second to Reliance Jio in terms of subscribers, plans to offer packages with several months of free access to Apple TV+, according to the second telecom industry source.

While this will increase Apple TV+’s presence in Indian households, growth could be limited as the platform “still isn’t fully optimized for the local market,” according to Counterpoint’s Shah.

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