Apple TV+ is incurring losses of over $1 billion a year to its parent company despite breakout successes such as "Severance".

Even though Apple TV+ is drawing impressive viewership and releasing a slew of hit new shows, Apple is reportedly bleeding around a billion dollars annually from its streaming venture. 

A recent report by The Information reveals that insiders familiar with the matter have confirmed Apple is facing significant financial setbacks in this sector, prompting the company to scale back its investment in original content.

According to The Information, two anonymous sources disclosed that Apple had been allocating around $5 billion annually on Apple TV+ content since its 2019 debut. 

However, last year saw a budget cut of $500 million, despite global hits like "The Morning Show", "Ted Lasso", "Severance", and "Shrinking" drawing massive audiences. Still, the platform's revenue performance reportedly falls short of expectations.

The report further highlighted that Apple may be incurring losses of up to $1 billion each year from its streaming division. 

In February, analytics firm Antenna estimated that "Severance"—deemed Apple TV+'s biggest success to date—helped drive a subscriber surge of two million. 

While Apple keeps most of its viewership data under wraps, Nielsen revealed earlier this month that "Severance" racked up over 3 billion minutes of viewing time, making it the most-watched show on the platform.

Apple TV+ continues to trail behind streaming giants like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video when it comes to subscriber numbers. The company declined to comment when approached by Reuters.

Current figures place Netflix at the top with a staggering 301.63 million subscribers, followed by Disney+ with 124.6 million, and Warner Bros Discovery with 116.9 million. 

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