So far, Apple iTunes has been selling music and movies, but soon they might start renting movies like Netfilx. According to reports from Financial Times, Apple is said to be in higher level talks with Hollywood movie studios regarding movie rental.
Each movie would cost $2.99 for a 30-day rental. All movies are protected by digital right management (DRM) to prevent piracy, but the protection would allow the film to be moved to one other device (like iPod or iPhone), which sound quite reasonable for a movie rental service. If they can sign enough studios and offer more premium movies, it could prove to be deadly for other online movie rental services and cable operators.
Apple already offers movies which can be downloaded and owned, but it’s not as successful industry pundits predicted it to be; mainly because unlike music, people rarely watch movies multiple times. Moreover, purchasing a movie is costlier than renting a movie, so would be willing to pay few extra dollars for a watch and throw movie?
No official word regarding movie rental service has been made by Apple Spokesmen. Mr. Jobs has been repeatedly dismissing reports regarding rental service for music, but it is unclear whether he actual has the plans for movie rental service via iTunes. Let’s just wait and see.
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