Saudi Aramco Explores Sulphur Business Stake Sale to Raise Billions 
SpaceX Surpasses Amazon in Market Value as Post-IPO Rally Accelerates 
China Industrial Output Beats Forecasts as Domestic Demand Weakens 
Japan Signals Readiness to Intervene as USD/JPY Nears 161 Amid Yen Weakness 
Asian Stocks Advance as Nikkei Nears Record High Ahead of Fed Decision 
Kingboard Holdings Shares Surge After HK$11.77 Billion Block Trade to Expand PCB and AI Supply Chain Business 
Microsoft Taps AWS to Support GitHub Amid AI Coding Boom 
Oil Prices Drop as U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Eases Supply Concerns 
GM Explores Defense Manufacturing Partnership With Lockheed Martin 
Sigma Healthcare Shares Jump After Exiting Boots Acquisition Process 
ByteDance Eyes Iluvatar, Baidu AI Chips Amid China’s AI Push 
Samsung Gains Interest from BYD, Google, AMD as AI Chip Demand Strains TSMC Capacity 
US-Iran Ceasefire Deal Extends Peace Talks and Eases Oil Trade Restrictions 
U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Extends Gulf Ceasefire, Reopens Strait of Hormuz 
Qantas Nears Launch of World’s Longest Non-Stop Flights to London and New York 
German Industry Employment Falls to Lowest Level in a Decade 
Carro Expands Into Australia With Acquisition of Used-Car Platform CarPlace 
SK Telecom is said to be signing a deal with Apple TV+ to provide online video streaming services to the locals. It was suggested that the partnership is also meant to compete with Netflix and Disney+ tie-up and grab a bigger share in the pay TV market.
Apparently, Apple TV+ is not yet available to consumers in South Korea and so, SK Telecom is joining forces with the American streaming TV service owned by Apple Inc. With the deal, the telecommunication company is expected to launch the Apple TV+ streaming service this year.
The Apple TV and SK Telecom deal
But then again, Pulse News reported that the deal between Apple TV+ and SK Telecom is not yet complete as the companies are still at the negotiating table. The good thing is that they are said to be very close to finally signing the contract for Apple’s pay TV service to be available to South Korean subscribers.
Although SK Telecom said there is nothing to confirm yet, business insiders think that it will soon announce its partnership with Apple TV+. If the talks would be successful, S. Korean will now be able to watch original Apple shows and movies after subscribing to the service.
“Although they close the deal, it would be difficult to launch the service within the first half of the year due to the set-top box settings,” the insider stated.
Apple TV+ was launched in late 2019 and it is offering a very affordable monthly subscription rate of just $4.99. This is one of the most reasonably priced OTT services and could even be cheaper than its competitors.
First Korean contents on Apple TV+
One of the first Korean shows that subscribers can watch on Apple TV+ is a Lee Min Ho-starrer drama series called “Pachinko” which will also star Youn Yuh Jung who recently won the Best Supporting Actress at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for her role in “Minari.”
Another original Korean content is the sci-fi thriller titled “Dr. Brain.” This was created based on the popular webtoon and will star another SAG Award winner Lee Sun Kyun for “Parasite.” These titles are the first Korean-language shows on Apple TV+.
Meanwhile, SK Telecom’s shares went up by 2.35 percent to close at KRW283,000 on Monday. The announcement of its team up with Apple TV+ is also expected to increase the shares one more time.
