• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 29, 2024

Apple's earnings results -- to be released on Thursday after the stock market closes -- will demonstrate how analysts see iPhone revenue as the bellwether” for its business, making up a majority of total revenue. But it’s clear that the Cupertino, California-based company wants to rely on advertising as a backup. It is starting in the U.K., which has a strong focus on privacy.

The move could reflect analysts' belief that iPhone sales have hit headwinds from slowing global cycles, reported delays in artificial intelligence features, and greater competition in China.

Heading into earnings week, reports now say that Apple has met with a U.K. ratings agency to explore ad-tracking options and adding a tier to run ads on Apple TV+.

A report from The Telegraph suggests Apple has been in discussions and weighing its options with Barb, a joint venture between various U.K. TV channels and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), which provides audience data about viewing figures.

The report does not say whether the company has held similar meetings in the U.S.

In the U.K., Apple had been attracting more new subscribers to its platform than any other streaming service during the past six months, but has now fallen to fourth place with a 12% share, according to July 2024 data from Kantar.

The data shows AppleTV+ fell to No. 4 with a 12% share after holding the top spot for the past 6 months

“A slightly weaker slate in the second quarter meant AppleTV+ relied more heavily on free trial promotions to drive subscriber growth,” Kantar data shows.

Advertising isn’t new to AppleTV+. It has shown advertisements during Major League Baseball, for example, which are included as part of the regular Apple TV+ subscription.

In March, Business Insiderreported that Apple hired Joseph Cady, a 14-year ad executive at NBCUniversal, to strengthen its video advertising team. He also created and ran NBCU's partnerships with Amazon, Google, TikTok, and others.

At the time, it was reported that he could work with another new hire, Lauren Fry, a TV and video ad sales executive Apple hired in February 2023 as head of video ad sales.