Subscription Economy News – Week of 01/07/18

Every week, we bring you the top stories and analyses from the global Subscription Economy.

Tim Cook says Apple will ‘announce new services this year’
Excerpts from an article by Sean Hollister in The Verge
Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer in an exclusive interview that the company will announce new “services” this year. While Cook didn’t say what kind of services — Cramer was asking whether Apple had any tricks up its services sleeve, including healthcare or mobile payments — it’s the long-awaited TV service that has recently seen all the pieces fall into place.

At CES 2019, there’s been a series of surprise announcements from TV manufacturers that are suddenly supporting Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit features to allow you to cast content directly from your iPhone, iPad and Mac — including TVs running rival operating systems from Google and Samsung. New TVs from rival Samsung will actually support iTunes, too, letting you access your movies and TV shows there as well.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to think Apple might be priming the pump with those hardware manufacturers for the upcoming TV service, too.

Read the full article here

Louisiana moves ahead with subscription model to buy hepatitis C drugs
Excerpts from an article on nola.com
The Louisiana Department of Health has sent out an official solicitation on Thursday (Jan. 10) to find a hepatitis C drug manufacturer to partner with in order to lower the cost and boost access to the medication for Medicaid patients. The plan was originally announced last July and would involve the LDH agreeing to pay the drug manufacturer for medication for five years in advance in exchange for unlimited access to the drug initially.

“Our department is pursuing a subscription model for hepatitis C treatment that will give us the opportunity to solve a major public health challenge and put a cure within reach for our most vulnerable populations while keeping health care costs stable,” said LDH secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee in a press release.

Read the full article here

Arby’s Just Launched a Subscription Service & It Sold Out Almost Instantly
Excerpts from an article by Dustin Nelson in Thrillist
Last week, Arby’s announced the launch of a swag subscription box called Arby’s of the Month. It’s a monthly delivery of seasonal goods (no actual food) to your doorstep. The first box was unveiled in the announcement. It contains an old school Arby’s serving tray, toque, bacon scarf, and some temporary tattoos that look a lot like the options from that time Arby’s gave out real Arby’s tattoos for free.

If this sounds appealing, we’ve got bad news. The subscription boxes completely sold out in under an hour. People went crazy for them, which was probably aided by the fact that a six-month subscription only cost $25.
Read the full article here

For more Subscription Economy resources and events, head to www.subscribed.com

Recommended for you

ZEOs Investing in Women this International Women’s Day
Strategic Insights from Zuora’s Subscribed Institute Executive Breakfast in London
How to create personalized subscriptions using Zephr