Apple in Talks With New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal to Join Subscription Service: Report

The rumour mill has been abuzz for weeks that Apple was planning to enter the magazine distribution business with its own curated subscription service. Now a report claims the company is talking to some of the biggest newspapers in the US about adding their stories to Texture - the magazine app Apple acquired in March.

"Apple executives, led by content boss Eddy Cue, have reached out to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post about joining the app, according to people familiar with the conversations, which began this summer," Recode reported on Friday.

This comes at a time when the Cupertino-headquartered firm is ramping up its interest in content sales and subscription.

"It is putting at least $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,200 crores) into a slate of TV shows it expects to start showing next year, and many people believe Apple would like to market a supersized subscription offering that bundles music, video and news together," the report added.

Details of the upcoming service are unknown but reports suggest the iPhone maker intends to sell content to readers in low-cost bundles.

Texture app, also described as a Netflix for magazines, currently lets users read as many stories as they want from dozens of magazines for a monthly subscription of $10 (roughly Rs. 720).