Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) & Google Inc (GOOG): A Look at Video Downloads

Peers

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to do big things when it comes to digital downloads. Whether or not a solid competitor ever emerges is yet to be seen, but it’s worth mentioning that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) serve as natural peers to Apple in this space. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), not so much, due to the fact that its cost model is based on a monthly subscription while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)—and the former two companies—allow users to buy content on a per unit basis.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) doesn’t publicly share the number of its customers that use its Amazon Prime Instant Video service, but as we’ve discussed before, this is an intelligent way to potentially boost conversions within its broader web store. Amazon’s day-to-day web traffic has been trending upwards—about 55% higher than it was two years ago—so it’s natural that a conversion rate boost would be on their radar.

Estimates show that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) converts about 9-10% of its visitors to paying customers, while e-commerce peers like eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) range between 11 and 12%.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), meanwhile, does share one aspect of its Play store data publicly, and in its latest earnings call, it reported a 150% year-over-year growth to $1 billion in “other revenue,” citing that it was driven by “Play store sales.”

Final thoughts

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s price at 3.8 times book is decidedly more attractive than Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at 14.6x, but Apple’s book valuation is more than 25% cheaper than Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) at the moment. It’s for this reason that we’d consider Cupertino’s prospects as a more attractive investment from a pure value standpoint, and the growth of its iTunes video downloads is an added bonus.

With that being said, this type of information is important for investors to track, but none are significant enough to make or break a stock’s performance. More specifically, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) investors should be aware that iTunes is a healthy part of the company’s broader business, but they should take a look at the valuation in addition to this before comparing it to peers like Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and more distantly, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). For a look at Insider Monkey’s market beating strategy, continue reading here.

Disclosure: none