Apple+ links up with rival Roku

Nobody ever would have expected this — Rich Greenfield, analyst, LightShed Partners

Apple TV+ is scrambling for new subscribers — and it’s quietly looking to an unlikely rival for help.

Apple’s struggling streaming service, which it launched in November 2019, has bought a button on the Roku remote — a surprise tie-up with the popular streamingstick maker that Apple hopes will expand its customer base.

Roku revealed the button on its Web site Wednesday morning without formally announcing it, showing a picture of its new remote that had easy-access buttons for Netflix, Disney+, Hulu — and Apple TV+.

Roku is rumored to charge a hefty fee for the real estate on its remote controls. Bloomberg reported in 2019 that a streaming service that buys a button pays Roku $1 per customer for it.

A Roku spokesman declined to comment. Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Apple’s Roku play is a “shocking” development, and a signal that the iPhone maker has finally realized it “can’t just be within the walled garden of Apple,” said LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield.

“Nobody ever would have expected this,” Greenfield told The Post. “The thought that Apple, rather than create a device that’s going to replace Roku, is now buying a button next to Netflix or next to Disney+ just shows you that as they get into the content business, they need to be everywhere.”

Indeed, it’s believed this is the first time Apple has put its branding on a competitor’s hardware. Sources close to the situation said the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant is pointedly keeping a low profile about the Roku partnership, which was first revealed in April in a report by The Verge that attracted little notice.

Whatever the numbers, Apple’s move comes as a slew of free trials for Apple TV+ are set to expire. When the $49.99-a-year service launched, anyone who bought a new Apple gadget got a year of Apple TV+ for free. During the pandemic, the offer was extended twice. But next month, the bulk of its initial subscribers are slated to finally get billed.

When users hit the Apple TV+ button, they’re routed directly to the streaming app and prompted to set up an account, which costs $4.99 a month.