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Jan. 17 (NBD) -- The first initiative to come of the partnership between Apple and "Moonlight" producer A24 is a feature film, according to U.S. tech media outlet AppleInsider. 

The film, entitled "On the Rocks", will be directed by Sofia Coppola with stars Bill Murray and Rashida Jones. Production is expected to start in New York this February.

It appears the tech giant is increasingly banking on original contents for growth amid a slowdown in iPhone sales. 

Early this month, Apple lowered its sales forecast to 84 billion U.S. dollars in revenue for its fiscal 2019 first quarter ended December 29, 2018 from the original target of between 89 billion and 93 billion U.S. dollars, citing the unforeseen "magnitude" of the economic slowdown in China. 

Reports show that the iPhone manufacturer is losing ground to rivals like vivo, Huawei and OPPO in the Chinese smartphone market. Affected by the weakening iPhone sales, the company will slow hiring for some divisions, Bloomberg reported Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter. 

In this case, Apple is making a bigger push into original content production and services. The company is projected to spend 4.2 billion on original programming by 2022, including the 1-billion-U.S. dollar budget for original TV shows and movies set aside in 2018, Variety, an entertainment business news website, reported citing Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster.

The partnership with upstart movie and television studio A24 marks the California-based behemoth's latest push into content production as well as its second big move in the film field. In September 2018, the company made inroads into the domain by acquiring the rights to "The Elephant Queen", a documentary feature by British filmmakers Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble, as well as "Wolfwalkers", a full-length animated feature by Oscar-nominated director Tomm Moore.

Before the foray into the film sector, it has rolled out two original TV shows and series - "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" and "Planet of the Apps" - to date, and is now working on a slew of new shows, including "See", "Calls", "Central Park", and "Dickinson", according to iDownloadBlog, a weblog focused on delivering Apple news, reviews and editorials. 

Apple is not the first tech giant that has broken into the film sector. In fact, it is a latecomer in the industry. 

As early as 2010, Amazon established Amazon Studios, which focuses on developing TV series and distributing and producing films. Only between 2015 and 2016, the company released a total of 16 films. It has won prestigious awards including the Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award, and coveted Oscar Award. 

In 2015, Netflix released its first original film, "Beasts of No Nation". Following that, it has been beefing up efforts to expand presence in the sector. 

In 2017, the streaming service platform shot 35 original theatrical films, with 8 released in the third quarter of the year alone. In October 2017, Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company expected to release 80 original films in 2018. 

Social media behemoth Facebook has also expanded into the original TV and film production sector.    

In addition to these rivals, Apple will be facing competition from Chinese tech giants in the film industry. China's Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu have been announced plans to up investments in content production. 

To stand out from the fierce competition, Apple will need to acquire content providers in 2019 or face the possibility of losing steam in its Services division, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a note to investors, according to a Fortune report. Ives believes the only way for Apple to grow the Services division quickly enough and keep pace with competitors, like Disney, Netflix, and Amazon, is through an aggressive content-acquisition strategy.

According to Apple's financial report for its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2018, Services revenue reached an all-time high of 10 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 27 percent from 7.9 billion U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, excluding a one-time favorable adjustment of 640 million U.S. dollars recognized in the year-ago quarter.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn