The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^ DJI) was down about 0.1% on Thursday around 11:45 EST, a small step to end a hectic year for the stock market. The Dow crashed below 20,000 in March when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S., leading to widespread stay-at-home orders. The pandemic was never brought under control, but that did not stop the Dow from finally reaching new heights later this year. The Dow will increase by more than 6% by 2020 if nothing changes by the end of the day.
With respect to individual shares, shares of appeal (NASDAQ: AAPL) was a bit lower after the company removed thousands of paid game apps from its China App Store. Meanwhile, it Disney (NYSE: DIS) the share rose after the company allegedly planned a price increase for its ESPN + service.
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Apple removes game applications in China
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that technology giant Apple plans to remove thousands of gaming apps from its App Store in China due to government pressure. Apple reportedly warned Chinese developers earlier this month that paid game apps were in danger of being removed.
China requires paid video games to be licensed before release, a policy that has been in place for the past four years. However, app developers were able to circumvent that rule on Apple’s platform. Apple has started closing the gap this year, the Magazine reports.
Apple followed on Thursday by removing 39,000 gaming apps from its China App Store, according to Reuters. These include popular titles such as Assassin’s Creed Identity and NBA 2K20. Only 74 of the top 1,500 paid game apps in the China App Store are still available, according to research firm Qimai.
The licensing requirement applies to paid games and games with in-app purchases, so the move by Apple could push more developers to choose an ad-supported model. Apple is slashing sales of apps and content in the app, so such a move would hurt Apple sales in China.
Shares of Apple fell by about 0.8% by Thursday morning. If nothing dramatic happens to the stock price for the rest of the day, Apple’s shares will end up with more than 81%.
Disney’s ESPN + raises prices
Given the popularity of Disney’s streaming services, it’s safe to say that the entertainment juggernaut has a price power. The company plans to push the monthly prices for its Disney + service from $ 6.99 to $ 7.99 in March, which is unlikely to generate much revenue, given the low price of the service relative to the competition.
According to Disney’s sports-oriented ESPN + service, Disney + is taking part in raising prices in 2021 Variety. The price of an annual ESPN + subscription will rise from $ 49.99 to $ 59.99 on January 8, and the renewals will remain at the old price until at least March 2nd. The price of UFC pay-per-view events in the service is also increasing. Viewers will now have to shell out $ 69.99 per event, up from a previous price of $ 64.99.
Disney expects ESPN + to gain between 20 and 30 million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024, compared to a previous target of 8 million to 12 million subscribers. Disney also expects the service to make a profit by fiscal 2023.
Streaming is a big part of Disney’s future, and the company has so far shown the ability to quickly win subscribers to its various services. Shares of Disney rose about 0.65% by Thursday morning; the share rose by more than 26% in 2020.